Fatal Attractions
by schmackie
Summary: John left Maria to be with Mickie, & the two become bitter enemies... or so they thought. When Maria surfaces her true feelings for the waiting Shawn, John realizes he wants her back. ShawnxMariaxJohnCena. A rewrite.
1. Hurt

_**John left Maria to be with Mickie, and the two become bitter enemies. But John still has locked away feelings, and Maria wants nothing to do with him. Or so she thought...**_

**Chapter 1-Hurt**

It was a cool October night at the BTI Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Everyone on the Raw roster was rushing around in order to prepare for Raw. Everyone, except a certain diva who believed she had too much history to get the job done with a certain superstar.

"I don't want to a do a scripted romance with _him_!" Maria complained to Triple H and Shawn Michaels along with Trish Stratus. The three were backstage, trying to soothe Maria. "Vince knew that we just broke up, and he's gonna do _THIS_?" Maria sighed out of frustration and started to pace, running a hand through her red curly locks.

"Maybe he didn't know" Trish offered.

"Please," Maria scoffed at Trish with a quirked brow. "Stephanie _knew_ we were together. She probably called up daddy with this _brilliant_ idea…" Maria sarcastically remarked. "I feel like I'm going to be sick." Maria raked her fingers through her hair again, tussling it off to the left side of her head, then ran her hand down her face and brushed it across her neck.

"Why don't you just suck it up?" Paul suggested. Trish punched him in the arm. "What?" He asked incredulous as Maria managed a growl at him. "These things normally don't last too long. Just get it over with and don't pay too much attention to him."

"But that's not it." Shawn interfered before Maria could bite his head off. "It's not that fact that she just has to work with him. It's the fact that they have to ask like they did when they were dating but with the knowledge of what John did to her." Paul glared at him.

"I'm still in idle shock" Maria started to rant off emotions that she's held for a long time. "He left me for Mickie. She's so skanky. It's like he slapped me in the face. I had to see him on her like that, and I had to be told, the 'I don't love you anymore.'" Maria's voice cracked at the end of her sentence and she shook her head. "Two months ago today" she muttered to herself, "That's the most hurtful man I've ever encountered, and I never want to see his ass again!" Maria exclaimed, pointing to the open door to get her point across.

"So basically," said Shawn, "You don't want to work with him, because you hate him."

Maria nodded in affirmation.

"Or," HBK continued to say quietly, "you don't want to work with him because you're afraid to fall back in love and get your heart broken again?"

Maria turned to look at him and the two stared at one another. "Shawn..."

.:.

If anyone was a madman that night it was John Cena. He was on a rage internally because of the scripted romance with Maria, his ex-girlfriend of 3 years. _Everybody else is all in my business any other time_ John thought to himself as he searched for Mickie's room, _so didn't they know we broke up? Vince wants to screw us both over._ Another little voice seemed to tell him. "Unbelievable" John said out loud. He had left Maria for Mickie. Maria always argued with him about little things, even though they had a hell of a good time together. _Well, hopefully she's with someone better than me_ he thought, not feeling even guilty about what he'd done, or… at least he tried not to.

Flashback

_"Hey, John" Mickie met John in front of the elevators on his floor. "So, what did you want to see me about?"_

_"Nothing" John said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I just wanted to see you." With that, he kissed her on the lips. _

_Mickie giggled lightly through the kiss before breaking away. "You're always so sweet. Did you tell Maria yet?"_

_"No," John admitted truthfully, "I'm gonna tell her tomorrow though. I feel so much better with you, Mickie." With that, he kissed her again, and the two began to get intimate as their arms entangled further and their kiss became deeper._

_"John?" Maria wondered sleepily in the halls, then she looked ahead and saw her boyfriend kissing another girl. She stopped to stare, in shock for a few seconds, then, she turned around and went back in her room, waiting for him to come, her stomach still flipping over from the scene she saw. Several minutes later, John came back with a huge dimpled grin on his face. The room was dark so when he pulled the sheets back on the bed._

_"So...did you and your girlfriend have a good time?" Maria asked stiffly._

_"What are you talking about Mickie-- err...Maria?" John slapped himself internally for saying that. "Look, Ria-"_

_"No," Maria interrupted. "I wasted three years of my life on you and then you go ahead and throw it all away?" Maria jumped out of the bed, standing on the opposite side and flicked on the light. "Didn't I mean anything to you?"_

_"Of course you did," John said standing up, "but you are constantly nagging me about everything. I loved you Maria but Mickie can just… Mickie's…"_

_"—A slut. Every new place we go she sleeps with at least two guys and brags about it the next day. I wouldn't be surprised if you had any diseases. I better get myself tested." Maria sniped, folding her arms across her chest._

_"Look, it was hard considering that I didn't love you anymore, but—"_

"_Save it, John! There you go. You got what you wanted. You don't love me anymore now I'm not holding you back. Go be with the slut. But when you figure out that you left me for that sorry excuse of a woman, remember that I want nothing to do with you."_

"_Ria." John's voice softened as he called her back. She zipped up her suitcase and left without a second glance with tears silently rolling down her face._

_John ran his hand over his face before he began to pace. He decided to call her, hopefully she had cooled down. That idea fell to pieces as he opened his phone to find picture of him and Maria. She was kissing his cheek and his arms were wrapped tightly around her. He remembered that he didn't want to let go. John snapped his phone shut before falling to the sheets._

"_Shit."_

End Flashback

Maria had stayed in Trish's room and he began to room with Mickie. They haven't talked to each other since then, two months ago today.

John shook his flashback out of his head and headed to Mickie's room without another thought.

_Meet me in my dressing room later if you want to get 'warmed up' before your match, _Mickie told him as they headed off the plane that morning after planting a kiss on his cheek. John knew she wanted him to come anyway, so he didn't say no. He eventually found Mickie's dressing room. He was about to knock when he heard familiar voices carrying from an open locker room door just a few doors down the hall. He recognized Maria's voice and curiosity got the best of him. He walked the three steps to see Maria pacing while Trish, Hunter and Shawn were sitting on the bench. Trish was Maria's best friend but seeing DX there made him curious.

_Since when did she hang out with them?_ He thought to himself. He looked at Maria and she looked beautiful. She was wearing a red V-neck ¾ length sleeve shirt with dark blue skinny jeans tucked into tall knee-high boots. Her hair was red now, compared to the blonde locks she had when they were dating. John liked her new haircut but one thing he didn't like was the stressed look on her face. A old feeling crept up as he felt a slight urge to protect her. He pushed it away with a rough shake of his head and perked his ears up to listen to their conversation.

"So, basically" HBK was talking, "You don't want to work with him, because you hate him."

Maria shook her head furiously.

"Or," Shawn's voice had grown quieter, and a look of confusion appeared on The Champ's face, "you don't want to work with him because you're afraid to fall back in love and get your heart broken again."

John saw Maria's head shoot up at HBK. "Shawn..." Maria started. John could tell she was glaring at him by the sound of her voice. "I can't believe you."

"Maria-"

"How dare you Shawn Michaels! I don't love him anymore." Maria's voice broke as she continued. "I don't care about him anymore." She then started to walk away. Fast. John zipped back and knocked hastily on Mickie's door. He hoped she would hurry up and answer the door, but it was too late. Maria came around the corner, and when she saw him, she froze. Her eyes flickered to a surprised expression which quickly replaced with a glare. The two stared at one another until the door opened.

"Johnny," Mickie crooned, wearing a silky purple robe and holding the string in her hand. She saw Maria and raised her eyebrows at John. Maria rolled her eyes with a sigh and continued to walk. John caught the smell of her favorite perfume, Be Delicious by DKNY.

"Ready for your warm-up?" Mickie asked.

"Yeah" said John, taking Maria out of his head and with a smile, let Mickie pull him into her room and close the door after him.

Maria had heard them and she shook her head angrily. John apparently cared about Mickie, and she wondered why he would suddenly not love her anymore. _I guess he doesn't care if he hurts my feelings or not_ she thought afterwards. She wondered if Shawn was right for a minute, if she was still in love, and if she was still hurt. _I'm healed_ Maria told herself, but somehow, that just didn't sound right.

**A/N: So after watching Maria on this week's Celebrity Apprentice and seeing how she really gets mad gave me the inspiration to rewrite this chapter like I said I would. I'm working on all my other updates and should hopefully get those out soon! Thanks to all! Lots of love!**


	2. Not Yet

Chapter 2-As long as I'm here

It was show time, and Maria couldn't think of anything to possibly avoid John, even though now was too late. Hunter was right. Whether she liked it or not, she had to be his kayfabe girlfriend and she had to suck it up and deal with it.

Her first scene was in the locker room with John. Finally it was her cue. She walked into the guy's locker room to find John bent over the bench, tying his shoelaces, and pumped for his singles match against Edge. He looked up and saw Maria, raising his eyebrows as a smile crept on his face. "Hey, Maria."

"Hey John." Maria walked up to him smiling, but hesitant. She twiddled her fingers slightly. "I just wanted to wish you luck tonight." She looked around uneasily. _This is so embarrassing_ she thought to herself.

"You okay?" He asked her, looking serious.

"I just wanted to wish you luck and to be careful. Edge can sometimes be..." Maria looked up at him worried. Maria hated this but she couldn't help that her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his masculine voice.

"Maria, trust me. I know. But thanks. Maybe you could be ringside with me." John stated before stuttering, "You know, to make sure nothing happens." He added with a smile.

"Of course John!" Maria said happily. "See you tonight." She tip-toed to his cheek to kiss it, his arms hesitantly wrapped around her waist. Then giggling, she headed back out of the locker-room. John stared after her with a faint smile.

As soon as she was away from the camera, she frowned. _That was the most awful thing I've ever had to do _she thought, wiping her lips. She could've swore she smelled the slightest hint of sex on John. _Blech!_

"Hey Maria, how was it?" asked Trish as she came from backstage.

"Weird as hell." Maria said as she began to walk down the hall with Trish. "You have no idea."

.:.

After that was all over, John sighed with relief as he stretched. He did feel pumped up now, Mickie did give him some energy.

"Hey Cena." Edge came up to him. "Ready for our match?"

"Yeah." It was different from TV. John was glad Edge and Lita were his friends, because they definitely had his back on a lot of things.

Edge suddenly sniffed the air, and looking at John, a sneaky smile started to creep on his face. "Hmm..."

John stared at him and started blushing. "I smell like it don't I? Damn, give me something. It's so weird because I showered and still… Damn."

Edge started to laugh as he opened up his locker door, "So, how was it working with Maria? I was watching ya'll on the screen backstage. You both were pretty tense."

"It was stressful a little," said John, "I don't know. I just don't ever want to see her." He sighed, running a hand through his cropped hair. "I mean, we broke up, and I want us to stay broken up. Let the sleeping dog lie, you know."

"Well, you guys are gonna be working together," Edge said as he tossed John some Axe, "you might as well try to talk to her and make peace. Oh, and you can keep that. I don't want it back after you put it on God knows what."

"Thanks," He said with a sigh. He sat down on the bench. "I can't talk to Maria."

"You're gonna have to." Edge told him, "You're gonna have to be with her all the time. Can't hide forever."

John knew that was true, but he had no ambition to make things up with Maria. Its over, no left over feelings and that was that. He couldn't help but think the way he did, but he wasn't interested in being friends with her. _I don't miss her_ He thought to himself, but he couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the truth.

.:.

It was time for the real show to begin. Maria walked out of her dressing room and jogged down the hall, heading to be ringside for John. She was almost at the gorilla when she bumped into DX.

"I'll give you two some alone time," Hunter said to them both as he walked up a few feet. Shawn and Maria stared at each other.

"Maria, I-"

"Shawn, its okay" Maria said with a sigh. "I shouldn't be mad, you were kinda right." She reached forward to hug him. "We'll talk later but I gotta go."

"Break a leg!" Hunter called after her as she sprinted on her way. He turned to Shawn. "When are you gonna ask her?"

"Not now," said Shawn, "She's still recovering from John." He sighed. "I don't think I have a chance anyway."

"Won't hurt to try," Hunter told him, patting his shoulder.

Maria rushed over to John just as soon as his music hit. The two not even saying a word to each other, headed out for the first main event of the night. Maria looked at John, seeing a smile she rarely saw as the crowd exploded at hearing his entrance. He saluted before continuing to the ring. Maria skipped out next to John, clapping and cheering. Maria was a natural with the crowd, even motioning the "You-Can't-See-Me," which if she admitted it, was something she had always wanted to do for the crowd with John.

John couldn't help but grin at Maria, and not scripted, he really did. She looked like a dream. Her red locks framing her face and her clothes accentuated her beauty. John slid into the ring and held open the ropes for her. She slipped through the ropes and paraded around the ring pointing to John and trying to get some more cheers for him. She hopped down from the ropes and kissed John on the cheek again before Edge entered the ring and she took her respective place on the ground.

"Come on, John!" Maria cheered for him as the match went underway. Even though she wasn't interested that much, she liked the fact that Edge and John wrestled each other for so long that they could basically guess what moves the other guy was about to do. Edge started out by Irish whipping John all over the ring. He got John in the corned and got a few shots at his head before holding his forearm against John's neck, restricting air. The ref counted to three before Edge backed off. John quickly regained his composure before setting Edge up for a 5 Knuckle Shuffle after a few moves. He hit it perfectly, which made Lita angry. John went for the cover but Lita came into the ring and interfered with a leg drop just after the two-count. Maria sped up to the apron but the ref stopped her and told her to stand down. Maria did as she was told, glaring at Lita all the while. Edge had now taken control and after a DDT sandwiched between two suplexes, the fist belly-to belly, the second belly to back, he set John up for the Edge-a-cution. He hit the move and went for the cover. Maria hopped up to the apron again while John kicked out just before the three count. The crowd sighed with relief to see the match not over yet. John was still weak while the aggravated Edge pulled him up to Irish whip him to the corner where Lita was residing. The ref now noticed Maria up on the apron. Lita snuck up to help Edge strangle John while the referee's view was obstructed.

"But Lita's up too! Look!" Maria fought back, trying to get the official to just turn around.

"Maria! Get back down! I don't need any interferences!" The ref warned. Maria stepped down while pointing over to Edge who was continuously kicking John in the stomach while Lita restrained him with the ropes. The official turned back around. Lita held her hands up in the air, signaling she was doing nothing. Edge walked to the other side of the ring wand squatted down, waiting for the perfect moment to Spear John. John slowly wobbled up and as Edge was about to leap forward, Maria grabbed a hold of his boot. When the referee scolded her once again, she released his boot letting him turn around. John looked unsteady on his feet and Edge was ready to attack. As Edge began to run towards The Champ, John clotheslined him dropping him to the ground. Edge popped back up and John clotheslined him again. Edge got back up again, slightly weaker this time. John the Irish whipped him alomng the middle of the ropes right into a drop toe hold, immediately locking in the STFU.

Just as Edge was considering tapping out, Lita jumped in again and broke up the submission maneuver. The fuming official was tired of the interferences and forced Lita to leave the ring.

Maria had had enough also. She jogged over to where Lita was standing and yanked her hair back, causing her to fall to the ground, yelping in pain. Maria began to kick her fellow diva making her double over in pain. Maria picked her up by her hair and Irish whipped her into the barrier before heading back over to her side of the ring.

John, panting from working Edge in the ring, looked between the divas with a small smile before he continued. The match was almost over. Edge was tired, and John just wanted to end the match. So he went over to Edge, about to get him in FU position. John hit it, causing Edge to lay still in the ring. The crowd went wild as the ref hit the apron 1…2…3 times. John had won!

Maria jumped back up to the apron and raised John's hand in victory. His smile grew more as the realization dawned on him that he won and that Maria was next to him. Her grip released his wrist and he pulled her in for a hug.

"Thanks," He whispered in her ear as his arms tightened around her waist. Maria had almost forgotten everything of their past as they shared this moment, but was reminded when she looked into her eyes and saw the pity shining in them. Her smile faded before she kissed him on the cheek, which was for the storyline. John pulled her in for another hug before the two headed backstage.

They had one more segment for the night which they decided previously to tape now, so they could relax. They walked to the filming area and without another word, they began filming.

_The camera zoomed in on Maria wiping herself off after the match. She looked up when she heard John._

"_Hey, Maria." He greeted. John walked into the view and wrapped his arm over her shoulders._

"_Hey John." Maria greeted with a smile. "Great job on your match."_

"_You were pretty great out there, too."_

"_Thanks," Maria smiled before letting it fade, "Lita was getting on my last nerve though! Who does she think she is where she can just interfere like that! Urg!"_

"_Well you did great. And I was thinking, maybe we could make you coming to the ring with me permanent." Maria smiled at what he was propositioning. She ran her hand over his cheek and leaned in to kiss him. _I hate this!_ She thought. _I hate this! I hate this! I hate this!_ It was just a long peck but it was enough to show that there was still chemistry between the two. Maria pulled away and smiled slightly while she was thinking about how much she didn't want to kiss him ever, ever again… even if his lips were as soft as ever before, and his freshly shaven face feeling as soft as a baby's underneath her fingertips._

Maria left go of John and sighed as she began to head to her locker room. She hated this storyline. Hated it.

"Maria, wait!" John called and grabbed onto her wrist to stop her from going too far.

Maria stopped with a huff and turned to him, not making eye contact. "Yes, John?"

"Maria, you did a great job tonight" He complimented her, looking deep into her green eyes.

"Thanks John" She said, refusing to look into his deep blue eyes, trying to wiggle out of his grip but he didn't let go. "What do you want?" She said in exasperation, finally meeting his eyes.

"Maria, I want us to be friends," John said to her, "Look, I don't want to avoid you anymore, I think that's stupid. Especially since we're going to be working together now."

"Well, John, I'm not ready to be friends with you right now," Maria said sharply to him. "I...Not right now, okay?"

"Why not?" John asked her with a quirked brow. He thinks he figured it out, and he sighed in annoyance. "Look, if its about the whole breaking up thing, then I'm sorry."

"By 'breaking up thing' do you mean cheating on me? Because saying sorry for ruining my life doesn't exactly make it up. I don't want to be friends with you. It'll just make it harder to get over you."

John stared at her. "You still love me." It wasn't a question.

"Good job," Maria sarcastically remarked. "You've finally realized that we're not all heartless like you. You'd think after three years you would've known me better. But I guess you didn't realize that I don't heal easily. Thanks for hashing up that old wound." Maria commented, her voice breaking towards the end of her rant. She tried to be strong but she could only hold up for so long.

John looked guilty now. "Maria..." She tore her arm from his grip before quickly heading down the hallway with tears streaming silently down her face.

He didn't realize that Maria was suffering this much over the relationship. He figured that because she yelled at him all the time when they were together, that she wouldn't miss him all at much. But it turns out that she really was suffering.

Maria kept walking when she saw Shawn appear into view. She sped up her walking and hugged him as she silently cried on his chest.

"Maria, its okay," Shawn's gruff voice said to her quietly, and she continued to cry in his arms. He hugged her tightly, letting her let out all the emotions that was held inside. Shawn glared at John, angry for causing Maria this kind of pain. "He won't hurt you anymore." _Not as long as I'm here._

**A/N: So now Shawn is there for Maria. Does she want him there? Will John and Mickie last? How does Mickie feel about their storyline? What about that kiss? Will it rekindle old flames? The only answer I can give you is maybe… then you'll find out when you click the next chapter button. (: Lots of Love.**


	3. Missed

Chapter 3

Maria awoke that morning to her phone ringing.

She answered it with a sleepy, "Hello?"

"Maria! Where are you? The plane leaves in an hour!"

"Oh my God!" Maria screeched! Maria jumped out of her bed like a pop tart.

"Hurry up! I'm waiting in the lobby."

Maria, who thankfully packed up her things the night before, quickly got changed and zipped up her suitcase. She grabbed her bags and flew out the door. Her attempt at a get away was slowed down at her wait for the elevator, but when the lift dropped her off at the lobby, she continued her mad dash.

"C'Mon! C'Mon!" Shawn hurried her along as he opened the door for her and slid in after her.

"Shawn! I'm so sorry! I set my alarm but I guess I didn't hear it."

Shawn grabbed her face between his hands and looked into her eyes. "Maria. It's fine. If we don't make it we could take a train or something. Don't worry. We'll get there."

"Thanks, Shawn. You saved me."

"Yeah, well, you're about to kill me."

"Why?"

"Your breath! You didn't brush your teeth did you?"

"Well, no." Maria smiled sheepishly, but began to defend herself at Shawn's expression. "I was rushing out the door. Did you want me to take three extra minutes to brush my teeth?"

"Maybe it would've helped…"

Maria pulled out Listerine strips. "Better?"

"Yeah, a little."

"I brush them for real when we get up in the air."

"C'Mon. We're here." They rushed out of the car, their suitcases in tow. They went straight check in their bags. Once that was complete without a hitch, they looked to see an incredibly long line for security.

"Damn! There's no way that we'll make it in time." Shawn said as he stared at the line dismally. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a security guard.

"Excuse me sir?" Shawn got the man's attention.

"Yeah, whatdayou want?" His thick Texas accent told the two that he wasn't one to be reckoned with.

"We _really_ need to get past this line to make out flight. Would you be able to help us to the front?" Shawn asked the man.

"All of these here people _really _need to make their flights too. What makes you so special?"

"Listen, I normally don't play this card but I _really _need to be on my plane in the next 20 minutes. I am a professional wrestler for the WWE."

"Oh…" The security guard seemed to contemplate this for about a minute before pulling Shawn off to the side and out of site before he grabbed him and pushed him up against the wall by the collar of his shirt. "Boy, you _like_ running around with those greased up homo_sex_uals? Touching them on their _privates?_ Boy, you are messed _up_. Being _gay_ is a _sin._ You want to jump in front of all these people who actually _follow_ the bible? Over my dead body, boy. _Over my dead body._"

Shawn squirmed underneath him. He knew he could take him out if he wanted to, but he really didn't need another set back. Maria walked over and tapped the big security guard on the shoulder.

"_What?_" The man snapped, but when he noticed it was a pretty lady, he corrected himself and released his grip on Shawn's shirt. "May I help you ma'm?"

"Yes. I am with him and we really _do_ need to get to the next state. We don't have to skip in front of all these people, but if we could that would be great. Or if you could tell us another way to get to San Diego, that would be great."

"Well, miss, may I see your ticket?"

"Sure." Maria showed the man her ticket.

"Well you're flight is gonna leave in about five minutes. I don't think that you'll make it."

"Whose fault is that?" Shawn muttered off to the side.

Maria and the security guard glared at him. "Is there another way we could get there within the next three hours or so?

"There is a train station about a mile away. We can get you a taxicab that will take you there and there is a train to San Diego. I have family there, ya see, and I know the train schedule. The next train leaves in about twenty minutes."

"Where can we go to get a cab?" Shawn asked.

"Walk out those doors and speak to a man in a uniform.

"Thank you very much, sir."

"No problem, ma'm,"

The two took the man's advice and headed to the exit to hail a cab.

.:.

"John? It seems like something is bothering you," Mickie said to her boyfriend as they waited for the plane to take off.

"That I can't think of anyone who could love someone more than I love you." John told her sweetly, kissing her lips.

"You sweetheart!" Mickie smiled at him as she kissed him. When she pulled away, she whipped out her compact mirror and reapplied her lip gloss… again. "Am I alright?"

"You asked that a billion times" John said as he went through the playlist on his iPod, "Yeah, baby, you look great." He couldn't help but wonder if all she cared about was looking good and showing off. He scrolled to find some good tunes and didn't come across anything interesting yet. "Lindsay Lohan?" He questioned, looking at her. He let Mickie put some of her songs on there so he could 'think of her when he's listening to his music.'

"Hey! She _is _good, even though she's Hollywood's biggest slut" said Mickie. _We have that in common _she thought with a smile.

John had searched through all of his songs but he went back to the playlists and found one only marked by a heart. He didn't recognize it, so he asked Mickie.

"Darlin', what's this?"

"Oh, Johnny, that was on your iTunes. I just kept it. It's got some pretty good songs on there." Mickie said with a wave of the hand as she looked in her compact, checking to see if her nose needs to be powdered.

John had remembered Maria mentioning something about putting a playlist on his iPod a few days before he was caught. He clicked shuffle and listened to the playlist.

John blocked out all things as he put his Skull Candies in.

The first song was I'm Not Saying Goodbye by A Rocket to the Moon. He wasn't really wasn't into alternative but it was catchy.

Next was I've Just Seen a Face by The Beatles. Who was he to not like the classics? He listened on.

After that was Whisper Something Fragile by The Cab. He didn't like this kind of music, but it reminded him of Maria. She was always listening to this crap.

Then the device played L.O.V.E. Machine by Fozzy. He laughed as The King of Bling Bling played the repetitive song.

Next was Eye of the Tiger. He didn't know why that was under a playlist called "3" but he digressed and listened to Survivor.

After that was I Love You by Chris Brown. _Shit_ John thought, _this was a playlist for us._

He pressed the next button and Baby, We're Invincible by A Rocket to the Moon played.

He pressed the button again. Three Cheers for Five Years by Mayday Parade.

Once again, he pressed the next button. The Mixed Tape by Jack's Mannequin All these songs were about being in love. Maria put them on his iPod when they were still dating. He didn't understand how he didn't realize that they were there. But they were there, and for a brief moment he wished Maria was too.

John looked to his left to see Mickie checking her face in her compact and sighed in defeat. He brushed the feeling off before shutting off his iPod and giving Mickie a kiss on the cheek before drifting off into a restless sleep with the strange feeling that something needed to be fixed.

.:.

It was fairly quiet in the train. Maria had stared out of her window the whole time because she was thinking again about her failed relationship. _The nerve..._She thought as she pictured John sitting on the plane, kissing Mickie passionately. Then she realized that she needed time to get over John. _I guess I should stop thinking about him._ Maria had enough of that, and looking over at Shawn, her mouth open and ready to talk, she found that he was fast asleep.

_Wow,_ Maria thought. The sun was shining brightly in his face, and Maria observed him, his chest rising and falling slowly as it reached closer to deep sleep. Maria knew that he stressed and worried but when he was sleeping it all melted away. His dark blonde hair crowned his face in a sexy but mysterious. She caressed a finger on his cheek and he moved slightly but not waking. _You've been here the whole time _Maria thought to herself.

Maria sat back in her seat and listened to the radio playing on the train. She recognized the song. Rearview Mirror by Jet Black Stare. She really liked the song but as it progressed it made her sad to the point where she was tearing up.

She finally realized why that song made her sad, the song reminded her of John. _I need to get over him_ she thought.When she thought about what he did to her, she burst into tears. Not because she was hurt, but because she still loved him. _I can't do this_ she thought to herself, _I can't get over him, its hopeless._ She felt an arm over her shoulder, and Maria found her way into a soft, freshly cleaned T-shirt. "I'm sorry Shawn" she said with an appreciative smile, sniffing, "I'm ruining all your T-shirts."

Shawn smiled himself, "It's okay Maria. I'll let them get ruined, because what matters is that your okay, and I want to help you get over John." He rested his head against hers, inhaling the sweet scent of orchid and coconut in her hair. "Hmmm...your hair smells good."

Maria chuckled, "Shawn, you can say the most silliest things, and you can be so comforting too."

Shawn squeezed his arm that was around her affectionately. "I try." He looked at her and knew that he had fallen in love with her. He couldn't deny the emotions. He had fallen in love with Maria, but he knew that advancing on her at this kind of time wasn't what she needed to make her more stressed out. But if only you knew how bad he wanted to kiss her, touch her, and how bad he wanted her to be his. "You are beautiful, Maria."

"Thank you" Maria said, blushing, and then something else popped in her head. "Wasn;t it funny how that man at the airport thought you were gay?"

"What?" Shawn asked confused. But then he remembered. "Oh. Right, that was hilarious." He answered sarcastically.

Maria hit him playfully. "Oh, don't lie! You thought it was funny too."

"I thought the look on his face was funny when he realized that I was with you." HE realized the connotation of his words and corrected himself, "Well not _with you_ but on your flight, I guess. Heh."

"Yeah. That was funny too." Maria said quietly as she thought about _being with_ Shawn. _Well that wouldn't be so bad…_

A/N: Yeah… what do you think? WAIT! Stop write there and say it in a review! Haha… wow I'm so pathetic…


	4. Surprise! WHAT?

**Fatal Attractions**

**A/n: Hola chicos and chicas! Sorry about the wait...school is really annoying, you know? But anyway, everyone is in for a treat in this chapter...I hope you like it... (wink) (evil laugh) Chapter dedicated to my awesome fan, LULUCENA7, congrats on your story! luvin' it sista:-)**

**Disclaimer: Duh, I own no one.**

Chapter 4-suprise?

Maria and Shawn had finally arrived in their city, San Diego, California, home of WWE's finest wrestler, Rey Mysterio. Maria got along with most people pretty good, but when it came down to it, Rey and her were the best of friends. They knew each other well since they stayed in the business, and even though they weren't on the same show, that didn't stop them from keeping in contact. "I betcha Rey will be here because Smackdown's coming" Maria said happily, "But he leaves when we do, cause that's when Vengeance needs him."

"Oh, good" HBK said happily. He was also on good terms with Rey, pretty much everyone was. It wasn't hard to not get along with Rey. He was a sweet person, and so easy to please; just saying his name made his day. But the truth was, Shawn was a tiny bit jealous of the relationship that Maria and Rey had, even though Shawn and Rey knew each other even longer than they both knew Maria. But he knew that it's been since the breakup, two months ago, that she hasn't seen Rey or talked to him.

"Shawn, lets go!' Maria woke him up from his thoughts by tugging on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm okay" Shawn lied, "So, what were you saying about that zoo?"

"I was saying that there was a zoo like, a few miles down the road, and we can take a bus, that is, if you want to..."

"Sure" Shawn agreed with a small smile. In the meantime he would have to keep his feelings to himself.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

"Cena wake up!"

John's ocean colored eyes opened up to see Lita shaking him. "You're about to get left" The red head told him as he stretched in his seat.

"I know" He said sleepily as he groggily stood up and hit his head up above on the luggage compartment. "Ah, shit" he complained as Lita giggled at him.

"Do you need help?" Lita grabbed his bag from up above. "Damn John! This bag is really heavy!" She put it down on the ground. She watched as he grabbed his bag. "John, you really need to patch things up with Maria."

"Edge told you?" John asked.

"No. I see Maria and I talk to her." Lita sighed, and crossed her arms. "John, you've really hurt her feelings bad."

_So?_ John wanted to say, but decided to avoid conflict. "Well...I told her the truth, and well, she'd always told me to be honest."

"Cena!" Lita smacked him across the arm. John's arm now throbbed with pain as he rubbed it. "You'd better go heal things up with her before she falls into depression."

"She can't fall into depression!" John complained, "HBK's at her side healing her, she doesn't need me! I'm gonna make things worse."

Lita sighed. "John, you can't keep giving off excuses. You know what you did. Maria may have Shawn at her side, but that doesn't stop her from thinking about you. Solve your problems like an adult, and quit acting like an immature teenager." With that she walked away from him.

After that talk had happened, John had decided to ignore Lita for saying that. But he realized that she was right. He _couldn't_ keep putting this off. He was done with seeing Maria's sad expression every time she looked at him; he was tired of seeing the hurt in her eyes. He would have to make things better between them, but there was only two things stopping him.

_"Yes, John!" Maria's eyes filled with tears. "I loved you since we first got together! nothing's changed. I want to get over you, so give me time!"_

She wanted to heal on her own. There was nothing he could do until she had achieved that. Until then, John really couldn't talk to her like he was supposed to. Then there was the other problem.

_John watched Maria wiped her eyes and was surprisingly tempted to grab her and hug her miseries away, but before he could act upon anything, Maria had ran away from him, and HBK, coming around the corner, saw her and opened his arms, waiting for her to come. Maria, blinded by her hands, bumped into him and started to cry into Shawn's T-shirt as if she knew who it was. Shawn hugged her tightly, and his eyes connected with John's as he started to murmur something inaudible into Maria's ear, which made her crying cease a little. John locked eyes back with Shawn, before giving up and walking away._

HBK was the other obstacle. Apparently, he was acting like he was Maria's boyfriend and being very overprotective against her. Wait a second. _Could HBK be her...?_

"John! Are you okay?"

John snapped out of his thoughts and saw that he was in a zoo, with Mickie and her buds, Candice Michelle and Victoria, who were stopping to look at him after bending down to feed a little parrot in a cage. "What the hell?"

Mickie and her friends giggled. "John, we're in zoo" said Candice, grinning sympathetically at him. "Poor you, you seem so lost. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing important" John said gruffly as he bent down to look at the parrot. Mickie, Candice and Victoria all looked at each other in confusion. Then as he was about to feed the parrot with the borrowed food from Mickie, he heard a pair of familiar feminine and masculine voices. John looked up and saw Maria Kanellis walking toward his direction, holding the forearm of Shawn Michaels, chatting away happily, and even giggling. This was the happiest he had ever seen her since the breakup, and she wasn't faking it, he could tell. As she walked closer, Maria laughed and her eyes happened to have glanced in his. To his surprise, Maria smiled at him (even though it was in a smug way), and looked back over at the animals. As she walked past with the Glow perfume filling into his nose, he heard her conversation and she was rambling on about how excited she was to meet someone after two months. _She's happy without me_ John said to himself, smiling a little, _She doesn't need me. Wait, I'm actually sad? I can't be. It's over. We're not together, and that's what matters. _But lately, he's been feeling more and more wrong about that.

What John didn't realize was that he was thinking and staring after Maria, and Mickie and her girls caught all of it. Mickie was furious. He was staring after his ex, after all the time it took for her to get him? _Oh hell no_ she thought, _I gotta eliminate that girl before he falls back in love with her._

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Maria sighed happily. "Oh Shawn, those were the lamest jokes ever, thanks for that." She giggled again, for no reason this time as she picked up her rested head off of HBK's arm. They were walking away from the monkey exhibit.

HBK smiled. "Nobody laughs at those jokes but you Maria, and that scares me."

"I just picture what the jokes look like and it's funny." Maria looked up at HBK. "You know what? You're a great friend HBK."

"I try" He said to her, launching her off in a series of giggles again. He stared after her. "Are you sure you're okay?" He loved to see her especially happy this time, if only she knew how her smile and her laughing brought so much light into him. "Look, if that guy spiked your drink back there, then..."

"No Shawn" Maria struggled to say through her laughing. She eventually got her air, and looked over at a parrot in a cage. But before she could say this to Shawn, she saw John looking up at her, bending down in front of the parrot cage with a surprised expression. _What, surprised to see_ _me laughing and smiling? _Maria smiled at him, raising her eyebrows in a mighty way. _Take a good look John, because this girl is WAY over you. _She looked away from him to point at the interesting animals to Shawn, and out the corner of her eye, she saw that John was smiling to himself, even though it looked different now. It was his sad smile. Now Maria was confused. _He cheated on me, and he's sad to see me happy. That makes sense. _Even though that wasn't probably the right reason, Maria could care less what John thought at this moment. She was too busy enjoying herself talking to her fans, petting the animals and-

"619! 619! 619!"

Maria stopped in her tracks, and turned back around to where the chants were coming from. People who didn't watch wrestling turned to look and stare as boys and girls ran to their parents with an autograph, or older people chat away happily at their chance to meet the one and only Rey Mysterio. Maria saw the back of his mask, and joy filled into her. She started to jump up and down like a little school girl. "Rey!" she squealed excitedly. Shawn looked over at her, grinning himself. He had last talked to Rey when she did (the WWE schedule took a toll on his life), and he was just as happy as her. But he wasn't about to embarrass the shit out of himself, jumping up and down like a girl, which is what he wanted to do, surprisingly.

John was looking over at Rey and grinning. He talked to the wrestler on a nightly basis. They were friends since John first got into this business. Rey was actually the first person to welcome him here. He glanced over at a girl jumping up and down excitedly, and saw that it was Maria who was that excited. As he watched her in confusion, the gears inside his head began to turn, and then it clicked as it grasped on to the conclusion of an answer. _Rey was the person she hadn't seen in two months._ He was yet surprised again at her connections with certain wrestlers, and he was about to be really shocked as to what was about to happen.

Maria waited as the crowd departed (a very LARGE crowd at that), before Rey patted the head of a little boy, and turned in her direction, looking at her. His eyes melted warmly at the sight of her, and Maria couldn't help herself. She dashed over to her friend and tackled him with a hug. "Rey!" She squealed again. Rey lost his balance and his back slammed into the camel cage, making the camel very upset and spit at them, but he missed. They both laughed. "Sorry" Maria said, and she rushed out to say, "I'm so sorry about not talking to you! I missed you Rey! I know you probably know about the breakup, and I lost your number and I was so busy, and-"

Rey put a finger to her lips, making her drop quiet. He was grinning at her though. "Calm down Maria, I can't even concentrate on what you're saying. You look beautiful" he added quietly.

"T-thanks" Maria stuttered, blushing brightly. She looked at him and saw that he was looking at her funny. Like he was in a daze. "Rey, what-"

Rey put a finger to her lips again and before Maria could say anything else, Rey grabbed her arms and pulled her down to him, kissing her deeply. Maria's eyes went wide as her lips connected with his. Was she expecting this as a welcome present? Maria pulled away from him quick, her whole face beet red. "Rey" she said quietly, shaking her head back and forth. She turned slowly and saw Shawn staring open-mouthed at her. There was gonna be a lot of explaining to do.

**So how was that ending? Shocked my darlings? ;) bet you didn't expect that one did you...I guess you'll find out what happens afterwards in the next chapter!**


	5. Revenge

**Fatal Attractions**

**Chapter 5-Revenge**

**A/N: I didn't mean to ditch you guys. Over the summer I was really bored and I had nothing to do. But now, schools in and I have no other choice but to do work, and I have a major Spanish project. I'm so mad right now, but I can be happier by presenting you with the fifth episode of Fatal Attractions. Enjoy. Oh and warning: this chapter may make you hate Mickie James :-)**

**x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x**

_What the FUCK? _John thought with a mouth wide wasn't usually that vulgar but this was an exception. Because not only did he see Maria at the zoo, but he saw his former ex kissing up on one of his best friends. _I thought HBK and Maria were together..._ He glanced over at Shawn and saw that his mouth was open. Next to him, Candice, Victoria and Mickie were giggling silently.

"Scandalous!" Candice hissed to Mickie, "Forget about revenge, Mickie, this is juicy itself!"

"Oh no, I'm still gonna get my revenge" Mickie whispered quietly, "I gotta protect John, you know. But this is too good. That slut's in for it with sexy boy now."

**x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x**

The first thought inside of the Heart break kid's head was the same as John's. Except for him, he kept repeating it over and over, still trying to process what just happened. The girl, who he was in love with, just kissed on Rey Mysterio, his best friend. Rey knew Shawn had loved Maria, he had told him so on the phone just the other night. But he kissed her as if the two didn't even talk. _Maria...Rey...why would you do this to me? _He thought disappointedly as the pit of his stomach dropped. His eyes met Maria's as she turned around to look at him. Their faces both read the same: despair. But Shawn wondered if this was a trick. Rey was just playing him like a dog, and Maria was in on the trick.

Maria first thought of Shawn. What had came over Rey, she didn't know, but surely, her current crush did not believe that she had kissed him. Rey _had_ came to her first. _Please don't be mad, Please don't be mad_ she thought as she pulled away from Rey and turned to Shawn. But Shawn's face was blank. Maria felt the tears starting to form in her eyes. "Shawn, please..." She could see the hurt in his eyes. "Shawn..." She started to come closer to him, but Shawn started to step back.

"No" Shawn told her, disbelief now filling covering his face. "You were just playing me like a toy. You and Rey, in it the whole time."

"That's not true!" Maria cried out, tears streaming down her small face. "Shawn, you saw that I didn't kiss him! he kissed ME!"

"Shawn, man..." Rey started to say.

"I especially don't want to hear from you" Shawn snapped at Rey, his cheeks turning red from anger. "I already told you how I felt about her, and you just took advantage of it. You were playing me too." He sighed. "You know, we used to be cool, but now, I don't even think that we can talk anymore."

"Shawn no!" Maria wailed, falling to her knees in the dirt. There were dozens of onlookers but she didn't care. She covered her hands in her face. Shawn just stared at her for a while, then turned his foot and started to walk away, his love shattering into a million pieces with each step he took as silent tears streamed from his eyes. Maria continued to wail in her hands. People who onlooked were booing and disagreeing with Shawn, whispering with one another.

"Maria..." Rey was about to reach for her, but a hand was put on his shoulder. He looked up and saw that it was John, shaking his head at the San Diego native.

"John! come back!" Mickie hissed to her boyfriend angrily, crossing her arms. _I hate that bitch _she added in her head, glaring at Maria.

Maria started to sob even harder than the last few seconds. She lost the person she was beginning to love, and that makes two men in her life that had decided to end things with her. Could love hurt any more than this? _God I don't know what I'm doing_ she thought sadly, _But I wish you would bring me out of this suffering. _

"Maria."

Maria heard that voice, and her crying momentarily stopped as she knew who it was. John bent down beside her, on his knees in the soft zoo dirt. He put a hand to her back, and she looked up at him, eyes bloodshot red, her nose slightly damp and her face gazing at him curiously. He didn't care about hating her. He didn't care about not talking to her. All he cared about was making her feel better, because it had just clicked to him when he saw the scene. He finally realized how much pain he had put into her by kissing Mickie and breaking up with her. "Maria, I want us to be friends" said John quietly, taking a thumb and wiping away the tears that were making its way down her cheeks. "I want to be there for you. Don't cry, please. For me?" He raised his eyebrows hopefully, his steel blue eyes looking into her bright emerald ones.

Maria was surprised her wish to God was answered so quick. John was her miracle? oh well. She didn't care if he was her ex. She didn't care if Mickie was cussing her out a few feet away. All it mattered was that John was here, and that they were finally able to settle their differences. "OK" Maria said to him, sniffing. The next thing she knew, John had grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug.

"I missed you" He whispered in her ear, squeezing her gently. "I _really_ missed you." He had no idea what came over him to suddenly come, apologize, and even make up with Maria, but he felt he knew that he had to do it before the feeling of guilt weighed him down.

"I missed you too" Maria whispered back, hugging him as the group of onlookers had their cries of "awwww." Mickie was staring at the two, then turning around to her divas, the three began to plot of a way to stop the two from getting together, and they just didn't know how successful it was gonna be.

**x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x**

It was an hour after that unfortunate event happened. John and Maria had to be at a photo shoot an hour before Smackdown! was to begin. Rey, who had privately talked to the two to make things up with them, wished them good luck ahead of time. "Maria!" John complained, tapping on the door.

"Coming!" Maria stepped out, wearing a sleek black strapless dress. The dress went down to her knees and made her legs look even longer. She had black strappy stilettos in one hand and a black rectangular purse with a crisp bow in the other. Her make up, subtle yet morphing, made her eyes look even more green. She closed her door and turned to see John looking her up and down.

She looked at him. He actually had a pink and white striped collar shirt, with a white shirt underneath. He wore some long khaki pants and his usual sneakers. He wore a black hat over it all. "That's not like you" Maria told him with surprise.

"Birthday present from my family" John said, rolling the eyes, "I dress too gangster for them."

Maria laughed and they started to walk together, chatting quietly and peacefully. Both of them found it hard to believe that they were getting along and just the other day there was tension between them. As they talked quietly amongst themselves, They passed by a door that just so happened to have Shawn Michaels come out the room. Maria nearly froze when she saw him, but when her green eyes met his familiar sky ones, she quickly averted her gaze to the floor. HBK just looked away himself, and when she passed, stared after her. Maybe he was wrong. Rey _did _kiss Maria first, and she didn't look like she was into it much. _Maybe I owe a little visit to Rey_ He thought as he locked the door, but right when he turned around, Rey was standing next to him, looking guilty.

"Perfect timing" Shawn told him with a smile. Rey looked up at him in confusion. "I want to talk, Shawn, about what happened..."

"Let's talk over coffee" said Shawn, putting his arm around the 619 champ, and the two began to walk towards backstage coffee.

**x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0**

"Thanks" Maria said to the Hispanic cab driver, winking as she handed him a twenty dollar bill. He took it without any facial expression, and drove away as they closed the door. "Geez. Well, he's not in a good mood."

John simply laughed as they headed to some studio building that had WWE professional photographers waiting for them. Soon they went in and was getting closer to their designated room. Maria was smiling and walking so fast that John nearly had to jog to keep up. "Calm down" He told her with surprised eyes.

"Sorry" She said, a cheesy grin splattered on her face, "I haven't done one of these since...since..." Her smile faded a bit, and her cheeks suddenly went red. She looked down at her toes as her walking rate decreased. "Since we broke up" She said quietly, and John's face suddenly went red too.

"Well, your getting your chance now" said John quickly, hopping subjects, "Come on, let's show that camera what we're made of." _That was uncomfortable_ He thought to himself. Unfortunately, the cheating on her didn't want to come into his mind. He wanted to forget that even happened.

Maria looked at him and giggled. "Ok." She was embarrassed now that she had mentioned the breakup to him, but John apparently felt as she did and didn't have anything to talk about. All this time she thought that they could never be friends...well apparently it was possible because they were together and they were in the photo shoot room, about to get pictures.

"Hey Maria, John" The photographer known as Brian greeted them. Maria cheerfully said hi. She and Brian were good associates and got along great.

"Just go stand in front of the white...hangy thing that you see over there" Brian said, waving a hand off over there. "You look great, you two. Wow John, a surprising change of clothes!"

"Eh" John said with a shrug, grinning, "I'm too gangster these days, apparently. But, oh well, I'm stripping for the photo shoot." Before Maria could even open her mouth to question, John unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a wife beater underneath, and stripping that off, Maria found herself staring at a solid six pack. The one that she used to love rubbing. "Erm, great" She murmured, blushing as she walked to the white hangy thingy. But once again, her eyes caught on to John's pack. John saw her glancing over at him and grinned. He loved to show it off, and he loved how Maria was paying close attention to it.

"Okay, lets get some huggy pictures" Brian requested, his eye behind the camera, "Show the camera what the couple is about."

Maria looked at John, and they both blushed. "Erm...okay." She threw her arms carelessly around his bulky waist, and that made the two start to laugh freely.

"Great job!" Brian said with a chuckle, snapping pictures, "Almost knocked him over Maria, be careful. Now, John, pick up Maria and imagine it was wedding day."

John had no problem leaning down and picking up the cheerful girl. Maria squeaked as she was brought high up in the air. She looked down worriedly. "Maria you pervert!" She whipped her head around and saw that her hand was lightly touching one of his pecks. "Stop touching my breast" John said, putting on a fake serious look.

"Great chemistry" Brian complimented as he took more pictures, "You two are convincing, almost like a real life couple."

John set her down as the two of them shared blushing faces. _If only you knew_ they both thought.

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to see a small smooch" Brian requested, "Just so you can show those fans who the real couple around here is."

That made John's face and Maria's face even redder. "Um, er..." John cleared his throat. "Can we avoid that? I uh, have a sore throat, and Maria might get sick." Even though John was friends with Maria now, he was afraid what the kiss might've done.

"Ok, that's fine" said Brian, waving his hand as Maria sighed with relief to herself, "Just lets fit in some more pictures. Give me everything you got."

Maria was glad that John covered up with a lie. She too also was afraid of what was to happen. At least she had gotten over her emotions for him. As the photo shoot went on, John and Maria did silly things like piggy back rides, sexy model poses and silly little kid poses (like two fingers over the back of someone's head, sticking out the tongue and crossing the eyes, etc.).

"I'm out of film" Brian said about ten minutes later. "Great job you two. I'll see you around Smackdown, and it starts in twenty minutes."

Without another thought, the two dashed out of the building and caught a different taxi cab (this time with an enraged black man and his marriage issues) to get back to San Diego's stadium. Maria was anxious to get there, because she had to go _bad._

"I mean, I know that she wants a fair relationship" The bearded man was saying, "But dang, I mean, all I wanna do is sit down and watch football! Is that wrong? Tell me, is that wrong?"

"She wants more attention from you" Maria said to him as they approached the center, "Pay some more attention to her and maybe you'll get something in return."

"A _good_ something, if you catch my drift" John said to him with a big dimpled grin. The man started to laugh. Maria opened the door and jumped out as the cab rolled to a stop. She ran as fast as she could in, because she could barely hold it. It took her a few seconds but she finally made it with five minutes till showtime. Relieved, Maria headed out a few seconds later, looking for John for their next scene. She looked and saw double doors. She was headed toward them, when suddenly a bunch of hands grabbed her arms. She whirled around and saw that Mickie, Candice and Victoria was holding duck-tape and rope.

"You better stay away from John, slut" Mickie warned, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"You're the slut" Maria snapped, trying to wiggle out of all three grips but it wasn't successful, "I'm not even into John anymore! Shawn is my-" She instantly cut herself off, realizing that she was about to reveal whom she liked.

"Oh, so you have a thing for a certain HBK?" Candice giggled, "This is too good. Well, too bad, he's mine."

"Since when?" Maria gaped at her.

"Since I said so" Candice mocked her.

"I'm gonna make sure you never get found" Mickie hissed as she pulled out the duck tape. Maria started to yell, scream and put up the best fight she could. She was able to break out of the grip and started to head away, but only to break her heel and crash to the floor. Soon, she found her mouth duck-taped, her hands roped behind her back, and the three girls instantly taking her into a room. Maria muffled yell, hoping someone would hear her but it was hopeless. Nobody heard or saw.

Her stomach began to drop as the three took her down to what seemed to be an old abandoned room that resembled a cellar. Candice and Victoria put a tighter grip on her wrist as they prodded her down the stairs. It looked about 30 years old with a old chair, table, a doll with missing limbs and alot of things that creeped out Maria. She knew she was about to be tied up in here. _I gotta get out of here_ Maria thought, _I can't let them get me like this. I have to think of something._

"Untie her hands" Mickie said to the girls urgently, having a firm grip on Maria's hair. Before Victoria could reach for her hands, Maria used her final attempt to get out by charging at Mickie with a headbutt. Her head connected with Mickie's perfectly as the brunette screamed with her hands clutching her forehead. Maria tried to run back up the stairs, but failed as she fell and hit her own head on the stairs, splitting open her skin and blood came rushing out. She screamed in pain as her toe also throbbed in unbearable pain. Blood blinded her eyes as Candice and Victoria roughly grab her and almost dropped her back down at the sight of her blood.

"Untie her hands!" Mickie said angrily, standing up and holding a knife in her hands. Maria couldn't even tell what was going on. She was in a daze, her eyes half open and her senses wavering from reality to another world. When she was trying to focus, she was tied to the chair, her legs tied too.

"Don't you ever mess with John again" Mickie whispered dangerously, the same evil glint still in her eyes.

"HBK is so mine" Candice said to Maria, grinning snidely at her. The three girls laughed and headed back up the stairs.

"HHMMPH!" Maria shouted, but she knew that help wouldn't be on the way that easily. As the girls closed the door, the room shut to complete dark, which is Maria's biggest fear. She began to breathe harder, looking around and seeing no light except from the crack in the door where Mickie had came in and out of. _How do I get out of here? _Maria thought to herself, calming herself down so that she wouldn't collapse from fright at the sight of the darkness around her. She was about to give up. _What would John do? _she thought to her self in wonder. She remembered that on the Marines, John had hopped up and broke the chair straight on the ground.

_My legs are tied up though_ Maria thought. Realizing that her shoes were on, she kicked them off (luckily they were the kind you slip your feet into) and began to wrestle away at the ropes that tied at her feet. Eventually, she got to the point where her feet were free, and she stood up, closing her eyes. After counting to three, she took a running start to what she could see was the wall backfirst, holding her breath waiting for the impact. She charged straight into the wall successfully and the chair cracked into pieces. The ropes bundled loose against her hands, and she was free to remove the duck-tape from her mouth. By this time she was really weak from all the blood she had lost from her forehead. She could barely stand, and she started to get dizzy and unfocused. She looked up at the door and saw about four of them.

_Gotta open one_ She thought, shakily crawling up the stairs as if she were a toddler. She reached for the middle door in her world, and it was locked. The other doors disappeared suddenly and she was back in reality. "HELP!" Maria cried hoarsely, pounding hard on the door. "HELP ME! Help me...help..." Her repeated poundings lessened down every second, as well as her voice, until she had stopped hitting, and began to grow sick and sink to the floor. _Must...stay...alert_ she thought feebly, but she couldn't find the power to hang on. She was growing faint because of the blood loss, and the fight that was in her was finally gone as she drifted unconscious in the dark room.


	6. The Cold Hard Truth

**Fatal Attractions**

**When I first read this story, this chapter was my ALL TIME FAV. I LOVVVE it!!! I hope you guys do too. We still have a little ways to go before I start writing the chapter myself. Also I have a poll for which story I should continue. I am going to put the losers on Hiatus and continue them later. Enjoy this chapter and the rest to come! Thanks for the support, guys. I really appreciate it! **

**Chapter 6- The Cold Hard Truth**

"Is she gonna be alright?"

"Don't worry, she will be. She's suffered a mild concussion while tending a broken toe, but everything's alright. You can stay in if you wish."

"Thank you."

Maria Kanellis was surprised that she was still alive, after suffering a concussion, broken toe, rope burns and a bruised butt. _I hate that jealous bitch Mickie_ _and her two slaves._ What really burned her up was remembering Candace's smirk; her statement of _HBK is SO mine_ echoed over and over in the brunette's head. _We'll see about that_ Maria thought bitterly to herself as a presence sat next to her in the bed, and a rough hand made its way into hers, interrupting her thoughts. She's felt that hand before, the rough texture of it made only one person come to her head. She cracked an eyelid to see John Cena sitting next to her, rubbing his eyes. She shut her eyes back when he looked over at her.

"Maria I'm so glad you're okay," He said quietly. He began to rub his thumb against her middle finger gently. "I don't know what to do. I was so worried for you when I found you." He moved his hand, and Maria opened up an eye again to see John wiping away the tears that had made its way into his eyes. "I got here as soon as I can after my match. RAW's over now, about thirty minutes over. I wish that we had never argued," He continued to say with a sigh, looking down at the ground. "I wish that I could take back time and see this coming. I wish that I could take back time to...to when we were still dating."

Maria felt her heart beat quicken, as thoughts began to run though her head. _Please don't say what I think you're going to say..._He can't admit his true feelings for her now, not when she was madly in love with Shawn.

"Maria..." John looked over at his ex, sleeping in the bed. "I'm sorry that I ever hurt your feelings to begin with. Your a sweet girl. Now I see the pain I put you through. I wish it never happened."

_Ok_ Maria thought as she relaxed again. She didn't think she had the nerve to tell him her heart was with another. _At least he finally realizes..._

John looked down at Maria and saw that she was still asleep. He sighed and glanced at the window next to her. "Well, its raining outside, and I plan staying here until they move me by force."

Maria almost giggled. It kind of reminded her of Cinderella. Even though the situations were totally different, Maria compared John to the Prince, and thought that both men were very determined to stay at the side of the women they cared for. "Thanks," She said quietly, looking over at him with a smile.

John jumped, startled to see her awake. "Maria! I..."

"I was awake the whole time," Maria told him. "I was so obvious, wasn't I?"

"No," He admitted, though when he saw her small smile he kinda was suspicious from that point. "Not really, anyway."

Maria chucked. Then silence grew between them as they both stared out into the rainy night. "So...how exactly did you find me anyway?" she asked him a few moments later.

As John began to go through the story, she was very lucky that she didn't end up worse than she was now. John was waiting for her for show time. Eventually, he got worried and told the script people that Maria wasn't here yet, and not offering any delays, they had to cut the scene entirely from the script, which was mainly written to be ringside to Shawn. He grew even more worried over time and decided to look for her. Nowhere to turn, he decided to tell Shawn and the two decided to delay his match to look for Maria. The two hunted until they heard strange thumping noises that grew faint until it wasn't heard. Shawn had rushed to follow it, and the two found Maria lying in her blood on the steps.

"Shawn unfortunately had to go to the staff meeting with WWE, he should be getting out right now." John relaxed to get his breath back.

Maria smiled out of appreciation. Shawn must've been pulling his hairs out looking for her. She glanced at John and frowned. "No offense John, but you've gotta control that girlfriend of yours."

"Mickie?" John's face turned into dismay and disbelief. "MICKIE did this?"

"Mickie, Candice and Victoria," Maria told him with a head nod. "I'll give you my word if you don't believe me. Candice had the nerve to say 'HBK is so mine'. That bitch," She added with bitterness in her voice.

"Have you two ever made up?" John asked her.

"No," Maria said with a heavy sigh. "I was hoping that we would soon." She glanced over at the window, her eyes shiny with tears. "I miss him so much."

John was speechless. It seemed that Maria really had feelings for Shawn as he thought she did. Obviously, Shawn felt the same way to her. Just like he felt for Mickie, and vice versa. "I didn't realize you felt that way," he said quietly. He wondered how he even loved Mickie. Then he wondered if he _did _love Mickie. How could he love a person that could treat the former love of his life like this? He felt himself boil slowly with anger. But why? A lump rose to his throat as he stared down at Maria, an old familiar feeling rising in his stomach; a feeling he hadn't felt in a little over two months. It couldn't be...

Maria nodded grimly. "I guess Shawn doesn't feel anything anymore." She continued to look outside the window with a hopeless look on her face. "He hates my guts," She added sadly.

"Hey." John put his hand to her chin and turned her back towards him, her bottle green eyes glancing into his. "I promise you. You'll get your HBK back in your arms." He didn't want to think of it, but she looked so beautiful in distress. Her brown hair was hanging loosely around her round, baby face. Her lips, nose, makeup...he suppressed the shudder that tried to creep its way around his shoulders.

"I hope so," said Maria. He was nearly giving her that same loving look back when they were together. His blue eyes were melted with concern. That face reminded her of something specific and she giggled. "Oh, I was just remembering," she reassured John as he gave her a confused look. "When I was tied up. All I thought about was you."

"M-me?" John stuttered, his cheeks a little red. "Why?"

"Well, remember _The Marine_?" Maria asked. When he nodded, she continued, "That scene when you were tied up in the chair in front of that crazy guy...well, the girls tied me up and left, and all of a sudden, I remember you, sitting in that chair, and then you busted out of it. If I hadn't have thought of you John, then I would've been done for." She looked up at him and smiled. "You've always managed to save my life somehow. I wanted to kill myself the other day right when Shawn left me. But you came. Remember when I was drowning in the river that one time, when I accidentally fell in? You saved me just in time. Or when I was just trapped. You thought of me, like I'd thought of you. You're my angel, John. I'm glad we could patch things up."

John stared at her for a while, and then smiled. That was the sweetest thing he's ever heard since he's been with Mickie. Mickie never said those things. She always shrugged him off to talk with her friends, make herself look good, and when it came down to alone time she'd always run off with those girls and disappear for the rest of the day. She never spent time with him. When she did, she'd say, "I love you" and act like it was enough. But it wasn't. The feeling in the pit of his stomach grew even more, and John figured out what it was.

"Maria, I−" He started to say, but with a door opening up, her attention went to the person walking inside carrying roses. It was Shawn, looking wind struck as though he had stepped through a tornado. His grey sweatshirt was half-hanging off, his hair a bit wild and his body nearly drenched with water.

"Shawn!" Maria actually jumped out the bed and wobbled over to him, throwing her small arms around his bulky waist, not caring about that water. HBK laughed and hugged her back. He had nothing to say for a minute as the two just hugged each other. John just watched them, and they forgot he was even there. "I missed you! I hope you forgive me. I'm sorry." She pulled back.

"_I'm_ sorry," said Shawn, grinning at her. "Rey told me the whole thing. See, he liked you too, and so he decided to take his kiss when I told him that I..." He faded off, looking elsewhere.

"You what?" Maria asked, on her tip-toes and almost nose to nose with him. "Tell me, Michaels!"

Shawn looked at her. She looked so beautiful, as she always looked. Smiling, he realized that he couldn't keep it from her any longer, even if he wanted to. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Maria's cheeks went slightly red as she gazed into his sky eyes. "When I told him...that I loved you," He said softly, and her eyes went wide. With that, he leaned in, and kissed her lips, something he had wanted to do for the past month.

Maria was not shocked he did this. She expected it, almost. She closed her eyes and gave in, putting her arms around his neck. John, whose mouth was slightly open, stood up and slipped out the room unnoticed. They finally pulled away after what seemed like days. "Shawn...I love you too," Maria whispered. Shawn, hands on her waist, led her back over to the bed, and the two began to kiss again, this time passionately, and John leaned against the wall outside, knowing what happened next.

He couldn't help himself. He felt jealous. He was sick. Love sick. He already had a girl. She didn't care, and neither did he. He didn't want to admit it. A silent tear made its way from his eye as he realized the cold, hard truth.

He was still in love with Maria.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**Well, this is the end of the sixth chapter! I love this one. Its just because he realizes that he never stopped loving Maria and this is what triggers the rest of the story. I love it! But I kinda always thought that it was a bit creepy that Shawn and Maria are considered a couple now. Like with how much older he is than her its kinda gross. So I just picture him younger… haha! Well please review. And I know that I didn't write this so I understand if you don't feel the need to review but then add me on alert or check out the other stories that I write or co-write. Thanks so much. Love you all!!!! :]**


	7. Still in Love?

**Chapter 7-Still in Love?**

Shawn and Maria luckily didn't do anything farther than kissing last night. Maria woke up the next morning in good spirits, yet still in her room. She barely got in a stretch when her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she said as she flipped it open.

"Hey babe," said Shawn. "Are you awake?"

"Just woke up," Maria told him as she sat up. "What's up?"

"I'm waiting for you outside the room," Shawn said. "So get dressed and freshen up, we gotta head over to the studio."

"Right, I'll see you in a few then." Maria hung up the phone and was speedy in getting ready. As soon as she stepped outside the hospital, Maria met Shawn outside the hospital, and he was waiting for her next to the door to a cab.

"So baby, how you doing'?" he planted a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm doing just fine," Maria said, gesturing over at her feet, covered in slippers. "The doctor said not to wear heels for about two weeks or so, because of my toe. I'm fine with that."

"That's good," said Shawn. He pulled her in and they kissed again, more passionately than the last. A good few seconds later they pulled away, smiling at each other. Shawn opened the cab door for her. "After you."

With his help, Maria made her way inside. Shawn closed her door and as he headed to the other side. All the built up pressure of keeping his feelings for Maria under wraps no longer had to be contained. After last night, HBK had called Hunter, who told Rey, and now, pretty much everyone knew that Maria and Shawn were dating.

"Are you up for a house show?" Shawn asked as the driver started to roll away from the medic center. "You and John got a lot of key scenes tonight."

"Sure," said Maria, gazing out the window at all the cars passing by. "Where are we going?"

"Airport," Shawn said with a smile. "We just might catch the plane."

"Remember that one time we almost missed it?" Maria asked with a chuckle.

"What, and your breasts were all out?" Shawn questioned, raising his eyes and glancing in that certain direction. "They like attention, because its happened again."

Maria looked down and realized the tank top she was wearing was a cleavage showing one. She giggled and said, "You know you like it, Shawn."

They both laughed this time, enjoying the time they were spending, not knowing about another fellow wrestler, miserable and lonely and in the cab with a girl he didn't even love.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

After John realized his feelings last night, he had sulked into his hotel room, listening to Maria's mixed CD as his only reminder of his ex. He hadn't broken down and cried yet; he'd prevented himself from doing so by letting a few come out. Nothing seemed to help him. He couldn't even try to get over his feelings. He didn't _want _to get over his feelings. He wanted Maria back, he wanted to go up to her, tell her how he felt and walk away with her in his arms. But she was in love with Shawn. She'd moved on. He hadn't.

"Johnny?"

John realized that he was riding in the cab in silence, without talking to Mickie. He turned to her blankly. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Mickie asked him, not looking the least bit concerned but rather upset. "You didn't seem to hear the rest of my story."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to hear it," John said with a sigh, turning back to the window.

He couldn't stand being around her anymore. Last night, when she was in the mood for a little action, he had turned over and pretended to be very tired.

"John, we need to talk about our relationship," Mickie said sharply, "and how you've been so hostile to me the past four days."

"What's there to talk about?" John said, his temper rising.

"Well obviously you're hiding something," Mickie snapped.

John glared at her. "You know what Mickie? I'll tell you straight up. I don't love you. I never loved you. It was all a gimmick. I just said I loved you and forced myself to believe it because deep inside I was hurtin' about Maria being out of my life. This whole time I was just in it because you looked good."

Mickie, who's mouth was slightly open at his words, sharply questioned, "What's wrong with looks?"

"THAT'S ALL YOU CARE ABOUT!" John bellowed, making Mickie flinch at his voice. "ALWAYS CHECKING YOURSELF LIKE ZITS KEEP POPPIN' UP EVERY SECOND. YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT MY FEELINGS! YOU JUST CARE ABOUT YOUR LOOKS AND YOUR GIRLFRIENDS!"

John took the time to get his breath back, still glaring at Mickie, who was looking horrified at the moment. When he spoke again, it was more calmly than the last time. "you're too busy trying' to flirt with Shawn and make Maria jealous. You're a slut, Mickie."

"SO?" Mickie's face was red from anger and hurt, tears brimming her eyes. "Didn't you flirt with Maria back?"

"I-just-made-up-with-her," John said through gritted teeth, pronunciating each word so carefully that Mickie slightly flinched in fright. "I took Adam and Amy's advice, and made up with her to get rid of all the tension because we going be working together, but you, jumping the gun, should've asked me about it first before locking' her in a room unconscious! Yes, I know," he added when her mouth dropped open in surprise. "So when were you gonna tell me about that secret engagement to Kennedy?"

Mickie closed her mouth, speechless.

"It's over Mickie," John said simply.

He turned over to face his window just as the cab driver, who was bewildered by the heated conversation going on, stopped at the airport. He got out as the trunk popped open, got his suitcase and rolled it away swiftly, aware that Mickie had burst into tears as he walked.

_Who gives a damn_ He thought angrily. He didn't care that she was crying. He wanted Maria. That's all he needed, and he'd be happy again. But he couldn't have her. Angry tears rose to his eyes. Why did life have to turn its back on him? Everything was going wrong at that moment. He was so blinded by pain, he didn't see himself bump into a woman who was handicapped, until he heard her gasp.

"I'm sorry," He said as he glanced to make sure the woman was okay. Instead, his eyes widened in surprise and froze on the spot.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Maria and Shawn finally arrived to the airport upon meeting a friend of Shawn's who would take care of his truck until he wanted to get it back. Then they went inside. Maria's toe throbbed painfully but she didn't care. She wanted to hurry up and sleep in her seat.

"Hey, we're a few minutes early," Shawn reported as he checked his watch. "Let's relax a while. Be back, going to go get some water from the fountain over there." With that he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then walked to the fountain.

Maria smiled and began to head to a seat to rest her toe. She continued to her seat until she saw a blur of grey suddenly ram her hard on her arm. She gasped as she wobbled off balance, but caught it with her good foot.

"Sorry," The person said sincerely, turning to look at her.

"I'm good. Thank you." Maria looked up, and she smiled. "Hey John! thanks again for comforting me last night." With that, she moved her crutches aside, and on her good leg she leaned forward to hug him tightly. She felt John's arms immediately return the embrace, his head leaning against hers. As she pulled away moments later, she was surprised to see his eyes looking watery.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I guess," John said bitterly as he wiped his eyes. "I just broke up with Mickie, few seconds ago."

"Oh John..." Maria's mouth dropped open in surprise._ The girl he cheated on me with?_ "I'm sorry," she told him sadly.

_"_I'm not," John said, "She was being' a pain in the _ass_, and quite frankly, I'm glad to get rid of her."

"Well, whatever you choose, I'm here for you," Maria assured.

John smiled at her, and she smiled back, noticing his cute dimples. It was the look he was giving her that made her even more suspicious of her own beliefs for the breakup. She saw John look briefly over her shoulder, and Maria knew Shawn had came back.

"Cena." Shawn nodded with recognition. "Hey man, thanks for helping finding Maria." He stretched out his hand. "It was nice of you to do."

John shook his hand. "No problem."

"Lets go Maria, if we want to catch the plane." With that said, Shawn put an arm around her and led her away from the WWE Champion. Maria followed carefully on her crutches, and craned her head to glance back at John. He stood there, staring after her, a very hurt look on his face. Maria turned back around and felt a twitch in her stomach. She screwed her eyes tight not to think about it, but it was too late to take it back.

_I still love you John_ said the voice that had been bottled inside her for so long. Maria refused to believe it. Though, as she looked up at Shawn, she wasn't really so sure if she was telling the truth.

You don't have to review, I understand. This is my second fav. chapter cuz then Maria realizes she likes John too. Hehe. And if you are in the mood for more Jaria, check out some of my other stories. Thanks!


	8. Unexpected News

**A/N: Hey! Thanks to all those who read. I just wanted to let you know that there are four chapters left until I get to write. Sooooooooo… here's chapter 8.**

**Chapter 8-Unexpected News**

Days passed by and soon, it had entered into October 25th, officially two weeks that Shawn and Maria have been dating. It hadn't been any arguing at all, it was just warm, friendly conversations with kisses, hugs and cuddles. It was way more enjoyable than Maria's previous relationship. Shawn treated her like a queen, and Maria was glad. But it just wasn't right.

It still wasn't the same.

John's presence seemed to have been around her more often than usual, and it made her crazy. Every time she was around with Shawn, she seemed to replace him with John, and picture him shirtless on the couch watching T.V, arms and legs stretched out with her resting against his chest, cuddled next to him. She could feel his hands touching her, rubbing her and she could feel his lips kiss hers.

Did she miss him?

Yes. She missed him still, even though she had denied it.

Did she want him back?

She didn't know. But she knew that she had been feeling funny lately, and it happened after she broke up with him. She's been feeling on and off sick, and she didn't know why. Sometimes she reached the point where she wanted to throw up, most of the time actually doing it. She had gone through a slight anorexic period after the breakup and thought that was the problem. But now, she was feeling pretty sick, and she had to lie on the couch with a hot, wet towel on her forehead and a fuzzy, white thermal blanket wrapped around her in the hotel while Shawn watched after her. Right now, he was out getting some Chinese Food for her increase of appetite. They had to leave the next day.

_I wish he'd come back_ Maria thought miserably with a sniff, clicking the remote repeatedly for something good on. Finally she came across a little kid yelling at his mom, hitting her and cussing. Super Nanny was on.

This kept her amusement long enough before the door slowly came open and Shawn entered, a large brown bag in his arms as he headed for the table. "Shawn..." Maria whined, poking out her lower lip. She loved playing an attention craving 6-year-old girl.

"What's wrong my love?" He said sweetly back, coming over to sit on the edge of the couch. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, running a hand through her red locks, and then briefly across her back. Maria closed her eyes and smiled; she loved getting back rubs. "Are you feeling better?"

Maria shook her head. "I'm starving though." She sat up, preparing to get her food when Shawn stopped her. "You're sick, honey. Stay down."

"Shawn..." Maria tried to object, but Shawn gave her a very fatherly look, and giggling, she laid back down. "You're so sweet."

"I know," Shawn teased as he kissed her forehead and went to fix her food.

Maria stared after him and jokingly added, "Nice butt."

"Thanks," He said, and he started to pantomime a model strutting the catwalk, making his butt extra noticeable as he did so. Maria giggled again, which set of a sneeze and a series of coughs.

"Which do you prefer, Dayquil or Theraflu?" Shawn asked as he prepared her plate.

"Neither," Maria groaned as she put her head in the pillow. "Aww, Shawn, I feel like shit."

"At least you don't look like it," Shawn said with a small wink. Maria grinned. She loved Shawn's attempts to make her feel better. She continued to watch the hell-raising kids on T.V until her Red Razr started to ring next to her head, and DeGeneration X's theme song filled the air. She ignored Shawn's laugh as she flipped it open.

"Yes?" She said weakly. She had just hung up from Trish's worry rant a few minutes before.

"Maria?"

"John?" she asked in surprise. That was definitely one voice she didn't expect herself. "W-who gave you my number?"

"Trish," John replied with a sigh. "I told her I wanted to call and wish you get well." He was sitting on the recliner in his room, impervious to all the clothes and junk scattered around him.

"Thanks," Maria said with a sniff. "I'm not doing so well. Say thanks to Trish, passing her viruses..."

John laughed, crossing his feet. "Yeah, I can see her freaking out now..._Maria, I'm so sorry that you're sick! if you die it's totally my fault_..."

Maria giggled. "That's your best impersonation yet."

John chuckled himself. "Well, I hope you feel better. Sorry to brag, but I'm feelin' just peachy relaxin' here..." _Wishing that you'd be lying next to me_ he thought miserably. "Thanks for tellin' me about Trish, I ain't goin' to her anytime soon."

Maria smiled. "What's up with you and Mickie?"

John sighed heavily. "Over the time we broke up, she's been begging' to get back with me. I'm not gettin' back with her. After all the things she's done, and she crossed the line when she hurt you like she did. There's no way I'm gettin' with a girl that hurts my friends like that."

Maria was slightly touched. He still cared strongly for her. Like he always did. "That's nice to hear you still care."

"Of course I do," John said, "You were, and are, my world."

Maria smiled. "You're my world too."

Shawn looked over at her suspiciously, frowning. He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously flood through him. Maria glanced up at him and blew him a kiss. Shawn smiled at her, instantly feeling immature for feeling like he did. He knew that he could trust her; she wouldn't go back to him.

At least, he hoped not.

"Well, thanks for calling me John," Maria continued, "I really appreciate it. I'm about to eat some Chinese, so, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright, be safe okay?" John told her.

"I will. Bye." She flipped her phone and tossed it in front of her, sitting up and feeling a rush going through her stomach. She sat there, frozen, knowing what was going to happen next. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she jumped up and rushed into the bathroom.

Shawn opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong but the sound of vomit and coughing answered his question. He waited until she was done first before he came to her aid. She stumbled out the bathroom, looking extremely pale.

"Shawn..." she moaned."I feel so weak..."

"Lay down, babe..." Shawn went to her, but she stopped him.

"I'm fine," she said weakly. She started to rock back and forth on her feet, looking even paler than before. "I'm..." she never finished, because all at once, she fell forward to the floor, fainting from weakness.

"Maria!" Shawn dashed over to the girl and flipped her to her back. "Maria..." he shook her slightly, and she didn't move. It was then, that confirmed his suspicions on her sickness and he knew what was wrong with her.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

The next time Maria opened her eyes, she saw Shawn sitting next to her in a chair, staring into his lap. "Shawn..." she whispered.

He looked at her and relief showed over his face as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Maria...are you okay?"

"Yes," Maria said to him hoarsely. The immense throwing up she did a while back took a toll on her voice. "I don't know what came over me...I just felt so weak, and then I blacked out."

Shawn suddenly looked nervous, and sat back in the chair. Maria looked back at him. "Shawn? are you okay?"

Shawn sighed, and looked over at the wall. "Maria, I think I know what's been going on with you lately."

"What?" Maria stared at him.

Before he could answer, a tall-brown haired woman came into the room, smiling at them. "Good afternoon! Mr. Michaels, I've run the tests you asked for, and I have the results."

"Is it what I thought?" Shawn asked her nervously. Maria looked between the two, confused.

The nurse looked at him and with a grim smile, she nodded. "I'm afraid you're right."

Shawn stared at the nurse then looked over at Maria in disbelief.

"As being the one tested on without notice, may I be informed what's going on?" Maria asked, looking between the two.

"I've asked the nurse to test and see..." he took a deep breath."to see if you were pregnant."

Maria's mouth dropped open. "But Shawn...we haven't..." she stared at him. He looked away from her. She gasped in horror.

She was two months pregnant with John's baby.

**I thank all the people who read so far. I appreciate that you're sticking with me. Only four more chapters! Then I get a go at this story…. WOOO GO JACKIE!! ******


	9. More Trouble

**Well, here's another one! **

**Chapter 9-More Trouble**

Trish was snoring, sound asleep on the couch in her room, her arms hanging loosely over the edge and the T.V playing Old School. Her clothes were still on and her mouth was opened slightly in deep sleep. She was dreaming of having a hot, steamy shower with Batista when the vibrating of her Sidekick awakened her from her slumber. Grumbling, Trish pulled the phone from her pocket and answered groggily. "Hello?"

"Trish, its Maria."

Trish sat up, alert. The tone of her best friend's voice scared her. "Maria, are you okay? what's wrong?" there was silence before the sound of soft crying made Trish frown. "Maria, did Shawn hurt you?" she said quietly.

"No..." Maria sobbed through the phone. "Trishy...I'm pregnant with John's baby."

"WHAT?" Trish nearly screamed. She took a few seconds to process the statement in her head. "Are you sure?" she said calmly.

"Y-yes," Maria sniffled. "I-I fainted a-and went to t-the doctor, a-and the d-doctor told m-me that I was p-p-pregnant!" Maria started to sob even harder.

Trish's thoughts just slammed into a halt. Maria? pregnant with John's baby? "Are you sure, sweetie?" she repeated, not quite believing what she's hearing.

"Yeah," Maria said as she stopped herself for a moment. She grabbed the tissues next to her on the couch and blew into them. "Shawn and I haven't had sex yet, and John's the only person I've been with in the past few years! Trishy what am I gonna do? It's been in my stomach for _two _months! and I didn't notice my stomach bloated up, my ankles swollen or anything!"

"Look, whatever you do, don't get an abortion," Trish told her firmly. "I'm sure Shawn will back you up 100 and if he doesn't, I got your back. We can raise the baby together."

Maria smiled. "Trishy, I'm so glad I met you. Shawn did tell me the same thing earlier..."

_Flashback_

_Maria and Shawn were silent as they made their way out of the hospital and into another cab. Shawn got in and turned to Maria, only to see that the girl was covering her face in her hands, shaking slightly. "Maria..."_

_"Shawn, what am I gonna do?" she wailed in her hands. "How can I tell John that I'm pregnant with his baby? what if he doesn't want to raise the baby? how am I gonna provide what it needs? What if-" she would've continued on her rant if Shawn hadn't cupped his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him._

_"Baby, listen to me." Shawn looked her square in the eyes. "You tell him when you feel the time is right. I'll be right here for you, helping you out with it." _

_"But Shawn..."_

_"Who cares if I'm not the real father? If John doesn't step up then that child needs the next best thing." Shawn ran a finger down her tear-stained cheek. "Maria, I already told you I'd do anything for you, and if you don't believe me...then this whole relationship has been a lie. You believe me, right?"_

_Maria nodded, and smiled. "Shawn...I love you so much."_

_Shawn smiled back. "I love you more." He leaned over and they kissed each other briefly and shared a long, loving hug, both of them forgetting the troubles that awaited them just for a moment._

_End Flashback_

"Aww..." Trish smiled. "I knew Shawn would always be there for you. Didn't I tell you Ri-Ri? He loves you a lot!"

Maria giggled. "Yeah, I know." She glanced over her shoulder and saw Shawn, sleeping soundly next to her. They were on the couch in the hotel, and Shawn had spent all his time awake making sure that she was comfortable and okay. "He's a real sweetie. Thanks for talking to me Trish. I feel so much better now." she just wondered if John would take the news lightly.

"Oh, its okay, I was only having a dream about Batista and I in the shower together," Trish teased.

Maria laughed. "Keep on dreaming girl...'night."

"Goodnight my love!" Trish closed her phone and sighed heavily, leaning her head against the seat and her mind swarming with thoughts. Maria was actually going to have a kid soon, at her young age and in the prime of her career. Trish sighed as she drifted off to sleep. "How's she gonna tell John?" she muttered to herself. Whatever her best friend did, it would be sure to change everyone's lives forever.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

John woke up the next morning in good spirits. He jumped out of bed with a smile on his face, stood up and stretched. Why was he in such a good mood? the dream he had just finished a few seconds ago. It was a bit out of reality, but it heightened his hopes of one day, maybe, getting back with the girl of his dreams. In his dream, he was in a big, fancy white house, Maria was his wife and he had a boy and a girl who were living replicas of their parents.

It wasn't the first time he'd had this dream; he had it a few other times back when he was dating Maria. Now, he was starting to have it all over again. Did that predict the future? would he ever get back with Maria and get married with children?

He only hoped he did.

John was now getting dressed and ready for Raw. The only thing he was looking forward to was rehearsing the scripted romance with Maria, and as he rode the Cat bus to the building, the only thing that was bothering him was how to get her back. Shawn was tough competition. Just based off of what he's seen already, he could tell that Shawn makes her feel more like the princess she was than when she was with him. To make him feel even more anxious, it was Halloween, and Maria was supposed to be wearing some kind of seducing outfit. This is why he was looking forward to the scene. They were supposed to make out. If there was one thing he wanted in the world, then he'd want to feel her lips again.

John sighed as the bus pulled to a stop outside his destination. With his bag strapped across his shoulder, he walked off the bus and into the building. His heart nearly flew into his throat as he saw Maria and Trish only a few feet away, talking in low voices. When they saw him coming, they instantly stopped talking.

"Hey John!" Trish said happily.

"Hey Trish, hey Maria." John looked over at Maria and noticed that she didn't say anything. Her head was down and definitely avoiding his eyes. "Maria, are you okay?"

"She's not feeling very good," Trish said hastily, elbowing her friend hard in the side. "I passed on my disease, as you know."

John knew that Maria was sick, but this was just different. Being sick didn't stop her from saying hi, or looking up at him and flashing a beautiful smile. Whatever it was, he knew that it was the reason she didn't acknowledge his presence.

"Well ladies, I'm off to prepare my match. I'll catch you two later." He looked at Maria in particular before he walked off.

"Bye!" Trish waved as he walked on. She waited until he had fully disappeared until she turned on Maria irritably. "If you keep that up, he'll know you're hiding something!"

"Sorry Trishy, but I didn't have the guts to look at him." Maria finally looked up, her eyes shining with tears. "I was afraid I'd blurt it out. He has a baby by his ex-girlfriend and he doesn't even realize. I just hope he won't be mad at me."

"Darling the only thing he should be feeling is joy at the thought of a little tiny muscle baby running around," Trish told her, earning a smile from the brunette. "Now you better get over yourself during this scene you're supposed to do. Let's go find an outfit, because if your stomach shows, he'll get ideas."

The two divas walked on silence, not even bothering to notice that another person around the corner had listened to their conversation heavily.

"She is _so_ in for it..." Mickie whispered with a sinister smile on her face.

**--**

It was nearly show time. Maria was dead nervous about the scene due to happen. She was in her dressing room, pacing back in forth, being more stressed about her pregnancy than her script, which she barely studied for. What was a girl to do in this situation? Telling him straight up might make her and John go through a difficult time and she didn't want to end up having a miscarriage over him. Waiting to tell him would only increase her stress, and the developing baby didn't need to go through that. The only thing she could think of was not telling him, which sounded better more and more she thought about it. That was it. She didn't have to say that it was his baby. She could just have it, and raise it with Shawn. That way, it could have a better fatherly figure in its life. Why would John want to raise a baby at the peak of his career?

Sighing to herself, she checked herself in the mirror once more. Despite the makeup she had applied, the dark circles under her eyes were still visible and she still looked weak and sickly underneath her orange tank top and black miniskirt. Maria put on a black headband with cat ears attached as her last decoration before leaving the room. She was on her way to the men's locker room to catch John when something moved out the corner of her eye. She glanced around, but didn't see anything. Right when she looked ahead, she saw Mickie James, staring at her from a few feet away, alone.

"What do _you_ want?" said Maria irritably.

"You might wanna watch your tone there, sweetie," said Mickie, a malicious smile forming over her face.

"I got a restraining order against you," Maria snapped, "So you best keep your distance."

"You too," Mickie replied.

Maria looked at her in confusion. "What?"

Mickie crossed her arms, looking smug. "You know, it would be a shame if John knew about the baby you were trying to hide from him."

Maria's mouth dropped open. "How did you-"

"You should choose to talk in more reserved areas," said Mickie, her smile growing wider. "My point is, other than work related issues, I don't want you seeing him."

"John is my friend!" Maria raged, tears rising in her eyes. "You can't do this!"

"Try me," Mickie challenged her. "Anyway, I think you should rearrange your face, your part's coming up. Just remember what I told you, okay hun?' with that, the diva walked away, a broad smirk on her face. She hoped she had got the message clear, and this, she thought, would be a sure way to end all ties between the two ex's.

**Well. Here we are and what do you know? Mickie James is being a bitch… wow. Shocker! Any who, thanks to all those who read and especially those who reviewed! 3**


	10. Confession

**Okay so here's chapter 10! This chapter was previously dedicated to JClvr (yay Mary!) I like this chapter a lot too! So here it is and I hope you enjoy! (:**

**CHAPTER WARNING: contains slight sexual content (don't say I didn't warn ya!)**

**Chapter 10-Confession**

John's nerves were sitting on the edge as Raw grew closer and closer to airing live. His scene with Maria was due to start first, which made it worse for the WWE champ. He didn't think he had the nerve to face Maria at the moment, and just when they were friends, they had to go and do something like this.

As he waited outside Maria's dressing room like planned, the door opened up and Maria poked her head out. "John?"

John nearly broke his neck as he whirled to look at her. "Maria?"

She stepped out with a black robe, her police officer hat was visible on her head along with her makeup. "I just wanted to say sorry about earlier," she said hoarsely. "I was kinda nervous about doing the scene, and as you can see, my voice isn't doing so well at the moment." After she finished this statement, she coughed a little, wincing slightly as her hand went over to her stomach.

"You could've told Vince that you couldn't do it," said John, staring at her as she rubbed her stomach. "You look awful. I mean, you look sick," he added quickly as Maria's eyes widened at him.

"No John, we both know that this thing has to work," said Maria, sighing heavily. "Anyway, I just hope that you didn't get the wrong vibe from that."

"You're fine." John couldn't help but notice that she seemed a little anxious, looking around carefully as they talked. "Are you expecting someone?"

"No," said Maria, looking around again. "Look, I better go in, we're about to start. Break a leg!"

"Same to you," John said as she disappeared in the women's locker room, even more confused. It was a little strange to him how Maria kept rubbing her stomach during their talk, and even stranger how she was kind of jumpy with every little sound made. If Mickie did something again, it was jail time for him because he would probably hurt her, or worse.

Then, the cameras started to roll and it was live. John looked at his watch expectantly and looked around, sighing heavily and giving off the impression that he was waiting rather impatiently for someone. A few seconds later, Maria's door opened up slightly.

"John?" Maria's voice rang out.

"I'm still waiting Maria," said John irritably. "I've been waiting out here for twenty minutes...are you done?"

Maria stepped out, smiling mysteriously, her hands keeping her robe tied up. "Well, a girl has to prepare, Johnny," she said quietly. "You do remember what day it is, right?"

"Yeah," said John, raising his eyebrows at her. "Why?"

"Because I have a present for you," Maria told him flirty like, coming closer to him. She took a finger and started to stroke his chest. "You're gonna love it."

John smiled at her, making Maria's heart jump slightly. She really missed it, and the way he was looking at her was making her more uncomfortable as it was. It was bad enough that he was shirtless and showing off his sexy abs.

"Really?" he asked, sounding interested.

Maria stepped back, smiling even wider at him. "You've been a naughty boy, John." She hesitated slightly before letting the robe drop to the floor. Her cheeks started to go red as John's eyes widened in surprise at her. Her stomach went cleverly un-noticed, and Maria was grateful that the baby hadn't expanded her out. "So...what do you think?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

John could not describe how sexy Maria looked at the moment. His head was rushing with perverted thoughts. "I have been a naughty boy," he agreed with her, stepping closer. "I think you should teach me a lesson."

"I think I should too," said Maria quietly, stepping forward and wasting no time in kissing his lips.

John responded, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to her so that they were in body to body contact. He wasn't supposed to touch her at all, but he couldn't help it. He hadn't touched her, or kissed her in so long. Her lips were just as soft as they had been since they last kissed. His hand slowly started to rise up, his fingertips slipping under her mini skirt...

Maria pulled away, grabbing his hand in the process. Thank God her improvisation skills were high. "Not in the hallway my love!" she said to him with a smile. "Just tell me that I'll win the Diva Halloween contest tonight, and we're all set."

"You're gonna smoke all the divas tonight," said John, grateful that Maria had pulled away from him just in time.

"That's what I like to hear." Maria grabbed his wrist and started to pull him. "Now come inside to get your prize..."

John looked very hopeful as he stepped inside the room, Maria closing the door after him and ending their cue. The two of them looked at each other simultaneously. It was obvious more than ever what the two wanted at the moment. John came forward without thinking and planted another one on her. This time, Maria didn't stop him.

John pulled her back close up against him. All his pent up affection was starting to reveal itself as Maria wrapped her arms around his neck, the both of them kissing each other with a passion that neither of them had shown their other partners. John's hands picked up where they last left off, slipping under Maria's mini skirt to finally get rid of all the temptation of touching where they weren't supposed to.

Maria was on cloud nine at the moment. Her relationship with Shawn, her baby, Trish, Mickie, and everything else was forgotten at the moment. All attention was on John and the way he was making her feel. The touch that Shawn could never give to her was hers at the moment. "John..."

John always missed the way Maria used to say his name in these moments, and soon, he was about to hear more of it. Minutes passed and the two found themselves on the bed, the warm air hitting their nearly naked bodies. Maria was enjoying the way John was kissing her neck, but something suddenly called out to her.

"Maria."

Maria jumped in fright, pulling away from John and looking around frantically. "Shawn?"

"What?" John panted, looking at her in confusion. "Are you okay Maria? Shawn's not here..."

Maria stared at him, and realization hit her straight in the face as she got up, heading over to her clothes. "This isn't right, John...it isn't right."

"It was my fault," John said quickly. "I got carried away. I just..." he hesitated before continuing, "I missed it."

"Missed what?" said Maria, stopping in mid-pace.

"Us." John looked up at her. "I miss our relationship, I miss us, I miss the kissing, the touching, the laughing..."

Maria stared at him and to John's surprise, tears started to rise in her eyes. "I miss it too," she admitted.

"Well, let's get back together Maria," said John, coming closer to wrap his arms around her. "Let's start over new."

Maria pulled away. "I can't. I miss you John, but I love Shawn, I really do."

"You can't live your life like this," John told her. "You have to make a choice."

Maria felt her tears sliding down her cheeks. She shook her head sadly. "I...I don't know what I want."

John caressed her face gently, wiping her tears away. "Don't worry...I'll wait, even if it's not the answer I want to hear."

Maria closed her eyes as John left the room, wondering what Mickie would do if she knew about this.

**Well thank you all so much for reading this chapter! Like always, I LOVE reviews but with this story I completely understand if you don't. So thanks again. 3**


	11. To Tell or Not to Tell xMy Writingx

**A/N: Ok** **so I was gonna post the regular chapters until the end, but then I had a revelation. So I'm gonna go through with it. Hopefully it'll work but I'm gonna try it. It feels like it's been a while since I've been writing myself, so I'm sorry if it's not my best writing, but here it goes. Thanks again for all the support!!**

Chapter 11

Maria sat on the couch in Shawn's locker room watching RAW. It was a week after the Halloween contest and one week after she cheated on Shawn. Shawn's match was on but she just couldn't concentrate. John's offer was on her mind. She loved Shawn, she really did, but John she always loved and he was the father of her child. Of course he still didn't know that…

Choosing would be one of the biggest decisions she's ever made. She knew that whoever she chose, the other wouldn't want her if she changed her mind. Maria had to think long and hard and her storyline with John wouldn't be a big help; it just makes Shawn jealous and with it getting more and more deep Shawn couldn't help but to suspect her cheating. Shawn still didn't know about what happened between her and John after their segment on Halloween. Maria didn't know what Shawn would do if he found out. She was guessing that Shawn would do something to John that would result in him having a broken bone and she was sure she didn't want that.

Maria returned to attention to the match on the television. Shawn had just preformed the elbow drop and was 'tuning up the band' for Sweet Chin Music. He hit it right to Chris Jericho's jaw and he fell to the ground. Shawn went for the cover 1.2.3. Shawn won. A smile appeared on Maria's face. She jumped up in excitement, but then a very unfamiliar feeling swept through her body. She sat back down, much more conscious of the baby in her stomach. She sat bewildered as she unconsciously put a hand on her stomach and started rubbing it.

The baby made her think of John. She needed to tell him about her—no their—baby. She could just say that it was Shawn's and let Shawn make her happy. But what if the baby came out and it looked exactly like John. John's eyes were so deep and blue, his dimples so defined and lovable, if the baby had either John's eyes or his dimples, people could tell he wasn't Shawn's. She couldn't know what the baby would look like until it came so she couldn't take that chance. There was no way that she could see to not tell John. Plus, who was she to take away his baby. He never seemed like the type who would want kids. What if he kicked her to the curb and left her to support the baby. Shawn said he would be there but if she picked John, would Shawn still be there?

Maria was in such a trans that she hadn't noticed Shawn return for his match. He was lightly shaking her and trying to get her attention. She finally snapped out and quickly tried to cover up by congratulating Shawn on his match.

"Congratulations Shawn!" Maria said getting up again but not as quickly. She pulled Shawn up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, hun" Shawn said leaning in for a kiss on the lips. The two of them started to get into it just as Maria stopped them.

"Shawn, why don't you shower before we do this?" Maria suggested.

"Sure, do I smell?" Shawn asked.

"Well, not exact—yeah a lot." Maria answered truthfully before giggling and shyly looking down.

"Well, I will." Shawn told her with a smile. "Why don't you go down to catering, I'll meet you there?"

"Alright. I am kinda hungry." Maria said with a smile matching Shawn's. He gave her another kiss on the cheek and grabbed his towel before heading into the shower. Maria left the locker room and practically skipped down to catering. She had a giant smile on as she grabbed a plateful of food and sat at an empty table. She quickly dug into her food and was enjoying it more than normal. She saw John enter the room and she called him over with a big smile.

"Hey, Maria!" John said matching her smile as he sat down next to her. He looked at her big plate of food before commenting, "Hungry?"

"Yeah, I've been…er, really hungry these days." Maria answered, her smile slightly fading. She couldn't keep John from his child. She still loved him and couldn't put him through that much pain. Shawn wanted her to tell him right?

"So what's up?" John asked with his smile still spread on his face.

"Hmm, nothing much. Shawn won his match! Did ya watch it?" Maria asked. Keeping Shawn on her mind would help her keep her focus and keep her mind off what happened a week ago.

"Oh, he did? I was warming up for mine." John answered. Maria noticed that his smile shrunk slightly.

"Yeah. How did your match go?" Maria asked.

"Good I won and thankfully creative's gonna let me become champ again." John answered, his smile stretching even wider than before.

"You're gonna be Champ again?! That's awesome!"

"Yeah, I'm so excited. It's gonna be at Armageddon. Against Orton. God I hate him." John said, spitting at the Legend Killer's name. Maria smiled in response.

"What's got you all happy?" John asked, lighting up at her smile.

"I don't really know." Maria answered truthfully.

"You're, like, glowing." John commented. Maria's smile wiped off her face. The pregnancy glow… She thought. Oh, God, I'm gonna have to tell him.

"Maria, what's wrong?" John asked. He didn't want to put her in a bad mood. He thought through what he'd said. I don't think I said anything wrong, right? John asked himself.

"Maria, are you ok?" He asked when he saw tears start to form in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Maria replied before sniffling.

"You don't seem fine. What's wrong? Was it something I said? I don't want to hurt you." John told Maria.

"John, you didn't do anything. But we need to talk." Maria told him.

"Sure, Maria, what do you want to talk about?" John asked trying to figure out what was wrong. Just then Trish walked in. Maria grabbed John's wrist and pulled him to the door.

"Maria? Are you alright?" Trish asked when she saw her friend crying.

"Yeah just tell Shawn I went to the diva's locker room if he needs to find me. I'd told him that I'd meet him here." Maria said.

Trish leaned in to whisper in Maria's ear. "Are you gonna tell John that you're pregnant?" Trish leaned back to see Maria's answer. Trish's look turned to pity as she saw Maria shake her head yes. Trish looked at John with wide eyes as she answered, "I'll tell Shawn where you are." Maria walked out of the room, still holding John's wrist.

"Maria, what's going on?" John asked confused. Then he whispered, "Do you have an answer to my offer?" Maria started to sob harder in response. She slowed her pace as she turned the last corner to the Diva's locker room. She stopped in front of the door and said to John, "Wait here." John couldn't answer before Maria slipped through the door.

30 seconds later Maria and all of the diva's that were in the locker room left. Maria grabbed John by his wrist again and pulled him into the Diva's locker room. John followed Maria without a word and sat down on the bench.

"Did you choose Shawn over me?" John asked jumping to conclusions.

"No." Maria answered. A smile spread across John's face as he leaned in to kiss her. Maria backed away before his lips touched hers.

"I thought you picked me." John said confused.

"I didn't." Maria answered.

"But… but you just said you didn't pick Shawn… I don't understand." John was very confused. He had no idea what Maria was trying to tell him.

"John, I haven't chosen yet." Maria told him.

"Then what is it? Why are you crying? Is something wrong? Did Mickie do something again?" John asked.

"Well, Mickie threatened this as blackmail, but that isn't why I'm telling you. You deserve to know. I just can't keep this from you." Maria looked down while trying to think of how to tell him that she was pregnant.

"Well, what is it? What's wrong?" John asked.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just that… I'm—"

"You're what? Maria, just tell me. You can tell me anything."

"John, I'm pregnant." Maria said, still looking down.

"Maria… I… I don't know what to say." John told her as he stood up and started pacing.

"Say that you couldn't be happier. Say that you want me to keep it. Say that you aren't mad at me for letting this happen."

"I don't think I can do that. I can't believe that you're telling me this! I can't believe that you want me to be happy for you! I love you Maria and you want me to just let you sit and watch while you start a family without—"

"What are you talking about John?" Maria asked puzzled.

"You're having his baby and you want me to just let you go through without a chance. Well, I'm not going to do that. You are the love of my life and there is no way that I'm giving you up because you're pregnant with his baby!" John retorted.

"John, Shawn's not the father." Maria whispered.

"Then who the fuck is?!" John questioned screaming. Maria fell to her knees crying. John's expression softened. "Maria, aw man, don't cry, hun. God, I'm so stupid. I just yelled at a pregnant woman. What is wrong with me? I am such an—"

"John, don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault—well, it kinda is. Shawn's not the father."

"Yeah, I got that far, but who is?" John asked. He wanted to know whose ass he was beating. Maria started to cry harder as she buried her head in the crook of his neck. He rocked her back and forth and held her until her crying slowed. "You don't know, do you?" John asked.

"I do know. That's the problem."

"Then who is it, baby girl?" He asked, dying to know. Maria slowly shook out of John's grasp. She took his face in her hands and said with as much clarity that she could use at that point, "You."

And then John fainted.

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**A/N****: So, after not writing for a while, I loved doing it myself again! I really really really hoped that you all like this chapter and I really hope that I didn't ruin the story. So please please please please please review!!!! Thanks to all of you readers for the support.**


	12. Why oh why?

**A/N: Well, thanks to everyone who reviewed on my first time writing for this story! I really hope that you all liked it! I was going to try and drag out the update for this chapter but I was just too excited! So here's chapter 12.**

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Chapter 12:**

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"John! John, wake up!" Maria yelled. She was scared. John had just fainted when he told her that he was the father of her baby. Maria felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She had hoped that John would have reacted like he was happy and not completely shocked. He should've expected this when he was there when it happened. Maria fanned his face with her hand but John still wouldn't wake up. Maria tried shaking him and she lightly slapped his face. She could not think of a way to wake him. An idea sprung into her head. Before she could even think of the consequences, she leant her head forward and placed her lips on his. She pecked his lips once more and he still didn't wake. Maria grabbed John and kept her lips pressed to his. She was about to let him rest on the ground once more when she suddenly felt him kissing back. Maria moaned as John roamed her mouth but then quickly pulled away when she realized what was happening. She got up off the floor and walked across the room. She needed space if she wanted to think clearly.

"I'm sorry, Maria, I don't mean to do that to you. I just get caught up…" John said, shaking the all too silent room.

"You seem pretty conscious now." Maria replied. John stayed silent in response. "I can't believe that you passed out."

"Well, that news was very unexpected. I just… needed an escape, I guess. But how long was I out?" John asked.

"About ten minutes." Maria replied in a monotonous tone.

"O… Maria?"

"Yes John."

"I woke up and you were kissing me."

"Yes, I was."

"Care to explain? You just said that you hadn't chosen yet and then you go ahead and kiss me. Maria, I'm trying really hard to be the perfect guy for you and you're making it extremely hard."

"How?" Maria asked after a moment of silence.

"Playing with my feelings would be a good start." John answered. A hint of hatred was in his voice. Maria squatted down until she was resting on the back of her heels. She bent her head in defeat.

"I'm sorry, John. It's… It's just so hard." Maria's voice cracked at the end. John stood up to go and comfort her. He felt a little dizzy but he kept walking. He needed to be strong for his love. He bent down and put his arm around her. "Maria. I can't really relate to what you're going through, but I'll be here for you. You know I love you, and I'll do anything for you. I can't help you if you don't let me. You need to tell me what's wrong."

"I just can't decide. I love Shawn, I do, but…"

"You love me too?" John asked finishing her sentence but was also very hopeful at what she was debating. If she took into consideration the fact that it was his baby inside her, then he would gain some major points. Maria didn't answer and that was enough confirmation for John. He leant down and kissed Maria's head and kept his face in her hair as he took one hand and placed it on Maria's slightly extended stomach. She looked up at him and stared into his eyes. Just then a knock was heard on the door.

"Maria? Are you in there?" Maria heard Shawn's voice on the other side of the door. She got up to let him in, shaking off John's hand in the process. Maria opened the door and Shawn was shocked at her tear-stained face.

"Maria, are you alright? What happened?" Shawn turned to see John in the room. "What did he do to you?"

"John didn't do anything. I told him about his baby." Maria said quietly. Shawn lent in to give Maria a hug. Shawn thought, it had to have been hard for her to tell the man that broke her heart and she now hates that he is the father of her baby. She looked like she had been crying hard. John must have wanted nothing to do with the baby.

"John, you better leave. You broke her heart when you cheated on her with Mickie and you've made her life worse by not wanting to be in her baby's life. Just go before you hurt her anymore." Shawn retorted.

John was about to speak when Maria looked up at Shawn and said, "Shawn, he didn't make me cry. And he wants to be in the baby's life. He didn't do anything."

"Then why were you crying?" Shawn asked, confused.

"You'll find out later." John grumbled angrily in before he pushed past them and left the room. Shawn held Maria closer and kissed the top of her head.

"Maria, why didn't you tell me that you were gonna tell him?"  
"I wanted to do it myse—" Maria started but was cut off. John had popped his head back in the room.

"Maria, keep me updated on your condition and I wanna be there for all the doctor's appointments. I'm only a phone call away and I'll always be here for you." John said before smiling at her, showing his dimples.

"I will." Maria promised with a small smile of her own.

John left them once again. Maria buried her head in the crook of Shawn's neck. He rocked her back and forth until he was sure that she was done crying. Shawn pulled Maria out of his arms and kissed both her cheeks and her nose. She looked at him and started to cry again. She couldn't stand hurting him, but it was too late, she kissed John on more than one occasions since she had been going out with Shawn, that day included. She almost had sex with him a week ago and that—sex with John—was the cause of one of the main issues in her life.

"Let's get you back to the hotel." Shawn whispered,

Maria didn't reply before Shawn steered her out the door and to his dressing room to get their things. It wasn't long before there were in the car and pulling up to the hotel.

Maria hadn't said a word on the drive to the hotel and didn't plan on it. She was afraid that if she started to talk to Shawn that she would accidentally mention the fact that she kissed John twice, or the choice that she had to make between Shawn and John, or, the worst, that she still loved John.

They walked into the room. Maria took her suitcase from Shawn and got out pajamas. She headed into the bathroom and got ready for bed. She walked out, gave Shawn a kiss on the cheek and crawled into bed. Before she drifted off, she heard Shawn croon in her ear, "Sweet dreams, Maria. I love you."

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A/N: Hey guys. Thanks for reading this chapter. So, just for the record: Shawn hasn't said "I love you" to Maria's face and this is the first time that she's heard it. She loves Shawn but she hasn't told him. Okay, I was writing and was like wait… I gotta clear that up. So yeah. I would love to hear what you readers think. You know what that means: REVIEW!!!!!!!!!

**(:**** thanks to everyone! luv ya!**


	13. Wheels Into Motion

**Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. I was waiting for Leigh Anne to finish the most current chapter of Love Me or Hate Me and I kinda forgot about updating my other stories. But I'm back now and souper douper excited… and yes I just spelt super with soup but whatever. (: Here's chapter 13!**

Maria awoke to an arm around her waist and an urge to pee. She threw the arm off of her waist and sprinted to the bathroom. After she finished and was walking back to bed, she felt a strange feeling in her stomach. It wasn't painful but it was a swooshy feeling. Maria could feel her baby moving in her stomach.

She ran over to Shawn and woke him up.

"Shawn! Shawn! Wake up!" Maria exclaimed.

"Hmm… what Ri?" Shawn asked still half asleep.

"I can feel the baby! It's moving!" Maria exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh!" Shawn enthused, now awake. "Can I feel it?"

"Sure." Maria said, grabbing his hand and placing it on her extended stomach. "Can you feel it?" Maria asked excitedly.

"Kinda, yeah! This is so fantastic! I am so happy for you… for us." Shawn said leaning in to kiss Maria. He pecked her a few times before deciding to take a leap of faith. "Maria, can I tell you something?" Shawn asked, scared of Maria's reaction.

"Sure, Shawn, what is it?" Maria asked, a smile plastered on her face. She was staring at and rubbing her stomach.

"I love you Maria." Shawn said trying to look in her eyes.

"Shawn, I—" Maria said stopping dead in her tracks like a deer caught in headlights. 'Shit! No!' Maria thought. 'Wait no- I should be happy.'

"Maria, I've been in love with you. I love you now. And even though that baby is half John, I still love it because the other half is you. I think I'll always love you. I think I'll always be in love with you, at least I hope I am."

Maria was speechless but she said the first thing that she could think of, "I love you too, Shawn." Shawn leaned in and kissed Maria. "Let's go back to bed."

Maria could only think of the consequences of her actions as she climbed into bed again. She put a hand on her stomach as Shawn crawled up next to her and kiss her head.

"Oh, God, what have I just done?!"

John Cena was so excited that he couldn't sleep. He had to tell someone. He decided to call Dave.

"What do you want at 3:30 in the morning?!" Dave asked as he picked up his phone. He'd seen the called ID so he knew it was John.

"I have big—no huge—no ginormous—news."

"What is it?" Dave asked, curious.

"Life-changing." John answered.

"Apparently. What's the big news?" Dave inquired, now annoyed.

"Maria is pregnant." John answered, his grin about to break off of his face.

"Then why are you so happy? Isn't that her and Shawn's business?" Dave asked wondering why John cared.

"Dave, how stupid are you?" John asked.

"I'm not stupid. I'm tired." Dave answered, groggily.

"It's not Shawn's, it's mine." John told him, even though he had made that mistake just hours before.

"Holy shit!" Dave was awake now. "Do you want it to be yours?

"Yes, I love her. I thought it was Shawn's too, but I was so happy when I found out that they hadn't slept together yet."

"Wait, aren't you rooming with Maria?" Dave asked.

"No, she rooms with Shawn. Why?" John asked, curious as to what Dave was getting at.

"Don't you two have a storyline? I thought Vince would've made you guys room together." Dave wondered.

"I guess so. He hasn't had us scheduled for much lately. Plus, how's Maria supposed to perform when she's pregnant?"  
"Well, maybe that's your way in. Talk to Vince and maybe you could work her pregnancy into the storyline."

"Dave, did I ever tell you that you are a genius?" John asked with a smile.

"Actually, you just called me stupid." Dave chuckled.

"Whatever, I'm going to talk to Vince tomorrow.

"Yeah, you'd get fired for calling him at 3:30 in the morning."  
"True."

"Good luck, man. Now go to sleep." Dave told his friend.

"You're cranky when you wake up. No wonder they call you The Animal." John teased.

"Actually, Trish calls me The Animal for another reason." Dave smirked.

"You dog!" John laughed.

"See; animal." Dave joked.

"Go back to sleep."

"Gladly, Dave said followed by a yawn.

"'Night man." John said now feeling sleepy himself.

"'Night, and congratulations." Dave said, truly happy for his friend.

"Thanks." John said before Dave hung up.

"Who was that?" Trish asked Dave.

"John. Did you know Maria is pregnant?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, she told John tonight."

"I cannot imagine going through that. I'm glad its him, not me." Dave told Trish before falling back to sleep.

Trish gulped and hoped for her sake that that wasn't exactly true.

Maria woke up again to rush to the bathroom. But this time it wasn't because she had to pee. Maria was throwing up when she heard Shawn walk in.

"Maria are you—Whoa!" Shawn exclaimed before he swiftly left the bathroom.

After a few more seconds of Maria throwing up, she rinsed out her mouth and left the bathroom.

"Sorry about that Maria. It's just that when I see or hear someone throw up, it makes me want to throw up." Shawn explained. "Most of the time, I do."

"It's alright. At least my hair was already out of my face."

"So are you hungry?" Shawn asked.

"Very," Maria answered, "especially after that."

"Do you feel alright?"

"Yeah just hungry." Maria answered.

"Then let's go eat." Shawn said. The two got dressed and went down for breakfast.

The first thing John did when he woke up was call Vince McMahon.

"Yes, Mr. Cena?" Vince said as he picked up the phone.

"Vince, I've been meaning to talk to you about my storyline."  
"What about it? Are you having problems with ms. Kanellis?"  
"No, I just think we should take it a little farther." John suggested.

"How do you mean?" Vince asked curiously.

"Well, its just that people are supposed to think that we're together, right?" John confirmed.

"Correct."

"So, what I don't understand is why we aren't rooming together and having more signing together."

"I do see where you're coming from, Mr. Cena. I would like you two to room together once we are at the next venue and I'll schedule an appearance for the two of you."

"Thanks, Mr. McMahon."

"No problem, Mr. Cena."  
"Oh, wait!"

"Yes?"

"I for got to tell you… uhm… Maria's pregnant."  
"What?!"  
"She's got a bun in the oven."

"Why isn't _she _telling me?"

"Honestly, Vince, I think she's still in denial about the whole thing. But I still want to help her through it."  
"Who's the father?"

"I am, sir." John answered with a million-dollar smile spreading across his face.

"But I thought that her and Mr. Michaels were together."

"They are but it was from when Maria and I used to date."

"Oh, yes, that's right. Why aren't you two still together, then, especially if she's carrying your baby?"  
"Well, a little while ago, I cheated on her with Mickie James but then I dumped Mickie because I realized that I still love Maria and I really want this storyline to help us get reconnected."  
"Okay, I think I understand now."  
"But don't tell Maria I called. As far as she's concerned, we never had this conversation. All of this was your idea. Please Mr. McMahon?" John pleaded.

"Sure, Mr. Cena."  
"I really appreciate it, Vince."  
"I'll call Ms. Kanellis and tell her that we need to take the storyline more seriously. If she doesn't tell me about the baby then I'll say that I called you first and you told me."  
"Alright, thanks again, Vince."

"No problem, Mr. Cena."

John realized that he confided in Vince McMahon and told him his entire love life.

'Whatever,' John thought, 'Mission Accomplished.'

**A/N: Hey guys, what did you think? I really would like to know how I'm doing with this. Do you think I ruined the story or made it better. Do you think I continued it the right way? Just let me know. In a review or a personal message, it doesn't matter, just tell what you think of the story. And while you wait for more updates, click my profile and I have some of my own stories, a couple co-written ones and a ton on my favorites lists. (:**


	14. Surprises and Disappointment

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so ahead of myself with these chapters that I can't wait until you guys review. But I really do want to know what you guys think of how I'm doing with this. Please review so I know if I'm ruining what was a great story. Thanks and enjoy chapter fourteen. (:**

**Chapter 14: A Meeting and an Encounter**

Maria was at the arena with Shawn. Watching him practice the Sweet Chin Music.

"Good job, Shawn. That one almost didn't suck." Maria congratulated her boyfriend.

"Oh thanks." Shawn said dejectedly.

"I'm only kidding, you big baby." Maria consoled him.

"So it did suck?" Shawn asked scared.

"No, it didn't. It was really decent." Maria put an arm around him.

Just then Maria's phone rang.

"Hello?" Maria answered.

"Ms. Kanellis, it's Vince."

"Oh, hi Mr. McMahon." Maria responded a little bit scared.

"I need you to meet me in my office immediately."

"Alright, sir, I'll be there in five minutes."

"See you soon, Ms. Kanellis." Vince said before hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?" Shawn asked.

"Vince, I got to go, hun." Maria said before kissing her boyfriend on the cheek. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Oh wait." Shawn said before going near the steps. He widened the ropes for her.

"Why thank you. I guess Chivalry isn't dead." Maria said before kissing Shawn on the cheek.

Maria was walking to Vince's office when she bumped into John.

"Oh, hey John." Maria said after she stepped back.

"Hey, Maria. Did you talk to Vince yet?" John asked.

"No I'm on my way now actually. I've got to go." Maria told him in a hurry.

"Well, maybe we could meet up later." John suggested.

"Maybe." Maria smiled. She almost forgot about John and his proposition. How could she?

"I have to go but I'll talk to you later."

"Alright."

"See ya." Maria said before darting off in the direction of Vince's office. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of his door.

_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!_

"Come in, ah, Ms. Kanellis." Vince recognized as Maria walked in the door.

"What did you want to talk about, Vince?" Maria asked, curious as she went to sit in the armchair in front of the Chairman's desk.

"It's about your storyline with Mr. Cena." Vince started. "I was thinking of taking it—"

"Off? I completely agree. I think it's going nowhere."

"Well, I was going to say further. Why do you want it off?" Vince asked curiously.

"It's just… well, I'm with Shawn and I know I should have told you before but I'm pregnant. And it's John's baby and I really love Shawn but I'm afraid that—"

"You'll fall in love with John again as he helps you with your pregnancy. Then you're going to hurt Shawn when you leave him for John." Vince interrupted.

"Uhm- no. I was going to say that John and our storyline will get in the way of my relationship with Shawn. How'd you know I was pregnant?" Maria was very confused.

"Uh… you just told me." Vince made up an excuse.

"Okay… Well I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"It's alright Maria. But as a diva I need to know your condition and if something like this were to happen again, I would need to know right away."  
"Are you saying something like this would happen again to me?" Maria asked offended.

"No, no. I just meant like an injury or—"

"Are you calling me a slut?" Maria interrupted Vince.

"Of course not, Maria. I just meant that—"

"I'm 29 years old and pregnant with my ex-boyfriend's baby and I can't do the job I love because of it. And now my boss is calling me a slut! I can't take this." Maria said bursting into tears.

Vince was confused out of his mind. "Maria I didn't call you a slut."

"Yes you did." Maria said whining through her tears.

"Maria I meant something very serious like this where if you wrestle, your health is in danger. I need to know these things."

"Oh." Maria said wiping the tears from her face.

"Maria, your storyline with John can be a major stable storyline and we need this to work. I'm sorry but you're going to need to put your personal life aside. We can have you interview with bust shots or maybe we can have you announce or—"

"Or we can make a maternity line for the WWE shop and I could design the clothes for it!" Maria exclaimed at her new idea, her short-lived tears far behind.

"That… could work. We could have you as the model after we bring out your pregnancy."  
"Whoa! Uh, I didn't really want everyone to know I'm pregnant. Couldn't we have someone like attack me and I go out for a precarious nine months on injury?"  
"Maria, we need this storyline to work. Also, you two will need to room together starting tomorrow. I'm sorry but it needs to be done." Maria sat there stunned. She couldn't believe it. She stood up to leave before Vince had called her name.

"Yes?"  
"Be nice to John. I know what he's going through. Heck I'm a grandfather. This is his baby too. And though you may not notice it, he's scared out of his mind."

Maria nodded before leaving.

"I don't know how I'll break it to Shawn." Maria thought as she turned around. She was shocked to say the least when she saw Candice Michelle waiting for her.

**A/N: Thanks everyone for reading! Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far and if you like it. Also, who do you want Maria to end with, Shawn or John? Let me know. I'd really, really, really appreciate the feedback. Thanks for reading! -Jackie**


	15. Ready with a Plan

"Hey Maria!" Candice greeted laced with a friendly smile.

"Erm… hey Candice." Maria returned the greeting with a skeptical smile.

"How's your pregnancy going?" Candice asked with what seemed a truly caring tone.

"Very good. Nothing's wrong that I know of." Maria answered the truth.

"How far along are you?"

"About 14 weeks." Maria told her, silently wondering what she was up to.

"That's like three months right?"

"3 months and two weeks, yeah." Maria said, feeling uncomfortable about telling this to the father of her baby's ex-girlfriend's who helped attack her and is trying to steal her current boyfriend.

"That's good. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"No. I think I'd like to be surprised." Maria told her while another part of her mind drifted off thinking about her baby and their future.

"Any preferences?" Candice asked stepping closer to her.

"No, I can – Whoa!" Maria exclaimed placing a hand on her stomach.

"What? What happened?" Candice asked, worried.

"I… I think the baby just kicked." Maria said as her eyes glazed over and a small smile flushed onto her lips.

"Ooh! Can I feel?" Candice asked hopefully.

"Sure," Maria replied, swiftly grabbing Candice hand and placed it where the baby kicked.

"That's so cool!" The candy-coated diva said with a smile. "It's unbelievable!"

"I know—Ow!"

"What?" Both divas looked down to the end of the hallway to see John storming towards them. "Maria is she hurting you? I swear, if—"

"John, no. Calm down. Candice wasn't hurting me. The baby just kicked kinda hard and I'm not used to it." Maria told him annoyed that he jumped to conclusions.  
Oh, well. That's fine. I—Wait! What?" John asked confused. "The baby can kick?! Since when? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it first kicked five seconds ago." Maria snipped at him. Her angry feelings were swept away as John pulled her into a hug and spun her around. "Maria, I am so happy for you—for us." John said putting her down. _Déjà vu, much?_ Maria though to herself. John had said the same thing to her yesterday when she felt the baby moving. Now John? For some reason, it seemed more real when John said it. Like he was supposed to.

"I'll just leave…" Candice said walking away, leaving the two to themselves.

When she was out of earshot, she called Mickie.

"What?" Mickie greeted.

"Well, hello to you, too, sunshine." Candice's words were coated in batter and deep fried in sarcasm.

"What do you want?" Mickie asked, wanting her to get to the point.  
"I was wondering what the plan was again. I forgot it."

Mickie rolled her eyes as she repeated herself again from that morning. "You befriend Maria, Shawn, and John. Then you seduce Shawn and tell him Maria doesn't want him. Then Maria is sad and isn't herself and will want Shawn back. John will realize what a bitch she is and come crawling back to me."  
"And can I get Shawn?" Candice asked her 'friend' hopefully.

"Sure, whatever floats your boat."  
"Okay, bye." Candice hung up, eager to get this party started. She walked down the rest of the hallway and turned left where she saw Shawn toweling off after training.

"HBK is _SO _mine." She whispered to herself before going up to talk to him.

"Hey Shawn." Candice greeted sweetly while batting her eyes.

"Hi Candice." Shawn complied with a skeptical smile.

"How's Maria?" Candice asked as if she didn't already know.

"Good. She has an appointment in two days."  
"So John's taking good care of her?" Candice asked.

"What? No." Shawn said incredulous.

"Well, that's not what I saw in the hallway." Candice told the Heart Break Kid.

"What did you see in the hallway?" Shawn asked nervously.

"I'll just show you." Candice said turning around and walking down the hallway. Shawn obediently followed.

They got there to see John's hands on Maria's stomach, with her hands on top of his. Their foreheads were touching and they and smiles on their faces.

"Told you." Candice whispered.

John was leaning down about to kiss Maria when—

"Maria, what's going on?" Shawn asked. Maria turned to her boyfriend, shrugging John off in the process.

"The baby's kicking, Shawn!" Maria told him happily. Shawn's anger subsided and Maria took his hands and placed them on her stomach. The Heart Break Kid's smiled as he felt little thumps. His eyes glazed over in awe as he felt his girlfriend's child kick. Shawn slip his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

John's excitement and dimpled smile vanished as he watched their embrace. He turned dejectedly and slunk down the hallway.

This was supposed to be _his _moment, _his _time with Maria and their child. Shawn was intruding on what was supposed to be one of the happiest times in his life. Shawn didn't belong there. This was supposed to be John and Maria. _Not_ John, Maria, and _Shawn_.

John missed Maria. He wanted to see her smile when she saw him and hear her laugh when he said something funny, and feel her touches and kisses when she just wanted to be with him. He couldn't wait until they roomed together. John wasn't giving up on her. He will not stop until she is his again.

**A/N: And you forgot about Mickie, Candice, and Victoria! Haha! Silly, naïve people!**

**Sorry for the super short chapter! But I wrote it this way and I like the little cliffhanger I left so you'll have to deal. I'm trying to get a lot of chapters in for this for a Holiday present for all you readers!! Now leave me a present! That's right! Reviews! Love ya! Happy Holidays!**


	16. Acting Like the Past

**A/N Hello readers!!! I know I said I'd update a lot over break but family has been here non stop but they're finally gone for a bit so I'm gonna try and write. Here with go with chapter 16!**

Maria started to pack up her things. Once her dirty clothes were picked up from around the room, she went into the bathroom to pack up her toiletries. She was about to take one last look around the room when she heard a knock on the door. She walked to answer it.

"Maria!" John greeted her with a warm smile and a hug. She couldn't help but smile back. Maria never denied it, he was definitely cute, but she already knew that "I wanted to see if you need help bringing your bags up to our room." Maria noticed how he said "our" room like "our" relationship wasn't as complicated as it actually was.

"Yeah, sure. I was actually about to leave." Maria told him.

"Which ones can I take?" John asked he nodded his head toward her suitcases.

"Uhm, one sec. I just want to make sure I got everything." Maria walked into the bathroom quickly and looked around. She walked back out and looked around again. On her bed was an HBK Teddy Bear that Shawn gave her. She placed it in her suitcase and zipped it up. "This one and that one over there." Maria pointed to a large suitcase and a smaller one on a chair. John grabbed them without a problem.

"Anything else?"

"Nope." Maria answered grabbing a third bag and her purse. "Let's go." They walked out and continued toward the elevator.

"So where's Shawn?" John smoothly" asked wondering where his competition was.

"He had plans with Paul. I think DX might reunite."  
"Oh… again?" John asked, not caring.  
"Be nice." Maria nudged him.

He smiled at her. The elevator arrived and the two stepped inside.

"Do you know if we have any segments this week?" Maria asked.

"We have one before my match at the pay-per-view. Then you kiss me after I win my match. Then on Raw we have another segment but I'm not sure what it is." John smiled slightly thanking God for this storyline.

"Alright." Maria answered nervously. Floor nine dinged and the doors slid open. They walked down the hall to room 943 and opened. About 10 minutes later John and Maria were all settled in.

"What do you plan on doing today?" John asked Maria.

"I was thinking of asking Trish over to watch a movie."  
"Oh…"

"Why?"

"I was thinking we could catch up. I miss you, Maria. But it's okay. Invite her over."

Maria got out her cell phone and pressed speed dial 3. Trish picked up on the third ring.

"Hey girl" Trish answered.

"Hey. What are you doing later tonight?" Maria asked.

"David's taking me out for pizza. How 'bout you?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with a movie."  
"Oh sure! Me and Davey will bring the pizza. You can pick the movie."

"Trish, you know I hate it when you call me Davey."  
"Was that him?"  
"Yeah. Oh! See if Shawn's in, too."  
"Actually I just moved in with John, so—yeah."

"Oh yeah, I heard Shawn talking to Davey about it. How is it, eh?"

"Well the past fifteen minutes have been fine. I'm just afraid it's gonna get awkward." Maria said, her voice going to down to a whisper as she stared at the bathroom door where John had retreated for the time being. She averted her gaze when the handle turned and he walked out.

"Alright, we'll be there at 6. Pick good movies. Please!"

"Then you bring lots and lots of pizza! I'm eating for two, ya know!

Trish laughed before answering, "Will do!"

"Alright. See ya soon!"  
"Bye, hun."

Maria closed her phone. She went into the bathroom and closed the door. She lifted up her shirt and turned sideways. Her stomach was only slightly distended; you couldn't really tell she was pregnant. She looked down when she felt a kick. Maria smiled, content, as she put her shirt back down and walked out of the bathroom to see John sprawled across the couch, his arms spread across the back of the couch and his feet resting on the coffee table. He was flipping through the channels when Maria sat down on the other side of the couch.

"What time is Shawn coming?" John asked.  
"He's not." Maria answered nonchalantly.

"Well, then." John said as he slid across the couch and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Maria smiled up at him while saying. "John, not like that. You said you wanted to hang out and we can't exactly do that if Shawn's here."

"Oh." John's smile faded but his arm stayed securely around Maria. She nuzzled into his side as John chose Family Guy and settled in to watch.

Maria looked at John. She watched his face. His forehead was relaxed, and his gorgeous eyes had a certain twinkle. His cheekbones were so defined and led right to his squared jaw. She noticed he was smiling and how deep his dimples were. Her eyes moved to his lips and suddenly she wanted to kiss them. She deviated her attention to his ears; they were kinda goofy looking which made her smile. Then she realized that the hair on the sides of his head was growing back and she realized that she liked it that way.

"You should take a picture," John startled her. "It'll last longer." Maria giggled when she heard his statement.

"Nah, I don't need to."

"Why is that?" John asked with a smirk.  
"Cause I can just look at you whenever I want to." Maria giggled to herself.

"I may have to start charging then." John commented under his breath. Maria cuddled in to him more with a smile on her face.

After about a hour of television watching, Maria jolted upward with a now very familiar feeling in her stomach. She rushed to the bathroom. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw John following swiftly on her trail. She flung the toilet seat back and swiftly stuck her head in the opening. Her throat burned as the vomit surged up her esophagus. Her stomach churned as her shoulders cringed. She felt a hand on her back and one on her forehead which promptly swiped her bangs out of her face. She cringed again as more bile forced itself up and out. When she was finished she looked up at John. His eyes were filled worry and concern.

"Are you alright, Ri?" Maria's head was filled back with memories of their past relationship. John used to call her Ri, Ria, and Ri-Ri. She smiled slightly, as she missed him calling her the pet names.

"Yeah, just morning sickness." Maria told him. " Although I don't know why they call it morning sickness when it happens all day."  
"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah! Really hungry actually."

"Then let's go!" John helped Maria up and she washed her mouth out while John went to turn off the television. Maria put on her boots and John his sneakers and the pair left the room and went to the buffet in the hotel.

They both grabbed a plateful of food and sat down.  
"You've got a weird appetite." John commented. Maria assessed her plate. There was a cheeseburger with marinara sauce overflowing from the insides, cooked eggplant, tapioca pudding, green beans, cantaloupe, and French fries accompanied with a diet Pepsi.

"I guess so. This is what I'm hungry for." Maria shrugged her shoulders. She looked at John's plate: cheeseburger everything on top of a mountain of French fries next to a Mountain Dew. 'Figures,' she thought as she rolled her eyes.

They finished their meal and headed back up to their room.

In the elevator, John kept trying to hold her hand. He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. Maria loosened her grip and swung her hand away. John grabbed it again and held it firmly. She laughed and gave up. The doors slid open and the two walked to their room hand in hand.

When they got back to the room Maria sat on the couch, expecting John to join her. She heard a zipper and turned around to see John shirtless. He searched in his suitcase and pulled out a muscle shirt and mesh shorts. Maria just stared as he was taking off his shorts and she felt her jaw slightly drop. John had been working out. Maybe it was that fact that John had gotten more fit or maybe it was the fact that Maria hadn't seen John half nude in person for over two months. Maybe. Or maybe John was just that damn hot.

He was a Greek god and her eyes were worshiping him. He put clothing back on and Maria unknowingly let out a grunt of disappointment. John looked up and a cocky grin spread across his face.

"What on earth are you going to do for a couple hours when I'm gone?" John asked rhetorically.

"Where are you going?" Maria asked confused.

"To the gym. I gotta work off that cheeseburger."  
"Oh, okay."

"Don't be too sad, okay. I'll be back." John jokingly reassured her. He walked over and kissed her temple. She couldn't help but smile in response.

"Catch ya later, sweet cheeks!" John yelled before shutting the door behind him.

**A/N: Alright so this chapter was complete Jaria. Barely any Shawn mentioned. Next chapter Trish and Dave will come over for pizza. Also I would love to know who you guys want Maria with in the end, or John and Shawn for that matter. And although John and Maria are getting along, you still gotta keep Mickie in mind! You never know what's going to happen…**

**REVIEW!**


	17. Classic

**A/N: So time flies between updates. Well for me at least. It seems like I had just updated last month but I know it was a little longer than that… or it might have been last month. I really don't know. Well here goes chapter 17. Wow… seventeen chapters. Awesome! Review!**

Maria flipped through the channels but nothing was on. John had just left for a workout not even four seconds ago and Maria was already bored out of her mind. She flipped off the TV and decided to visit the hotel's book store to see if they had something to capture her interest. She saw a section of pregnancy books and was about to walk over to them before she stopped herself. No one outside the WWE knew she was pregnant. The last thing she needed was for there to be pictures on the internet of her and pregnancy books. Maria looked around the rest of the store and didn't see anything until she went to the sports section. She found Chris Jericho's book. She decided to buy it as a joke. She paid for it at the counter and rode the elevator back up to her and John's room. She lay out on the couch and took out A Lion's Tale. She tried to start reading it but she couldn't get into it. Her mind wandered.

Her baby was growing and kicking. She thought about what would happen if it was a boy or a girl. How Shawn and John would react. She thought about her relationship with Shawn. She hadn't talked to him today, but that wasn't altering her feelings for him. She felt kind of weird saying that she loved him. Well, she loved him but she wasn't in love with him… well she wasn't sure. The last time she fell in love it ended when he cheated on her and she wasn't sure if she could do that again. Her heart was having enough trouble healing especially since John was now her roommate and not to mention the father of her baby. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, she still loved John. _Why is my life so confusing?!_

Maria knew that she couldn't live without her baby and she had a feeling that if it was a girl it would look like her and if it was a boy it would look like John. Or at least she hoped it would.

Maria was taken out of her trance when she heard a knock on the door. She closed her book and went to answer it.

"John, I—Oh!" Rey Mysterio exclaimed when he saw it was Maria.

"Is this a bad time?" Rey asked.

"No, John's working out." Maria answered, opening the door wider to let Rey in.

"Then why are you in his room?" Rey was confused.

Maria sighed in dismay before answering. "Vince is making us room together because of out storyline."

"Ah, I see." Rey said sitting on the couch. "Jericho's book? Really, chica?"

"I was bored and I saw it in the book store." Maria defended herself.

"Whatever you say."

"So how ya doing, Rey-Rey?"

"What are you doing talking about me, prego? How've _you_ been?"

"I've been good," Maria smiled as she sat next to him. "Just really, really bored. Vince doesn't want me training or wrestling so all I can do it sit around and eat."

"Then I'm glad I came by to relieve you from your boredom."

"So how will you entertain me?"

"I… don't know." Rey smiled sheepishly.

"If I remember correctly, we used to blast music and play card games."

"Oh yeah!" Rey remembered. "Wanna do that, chica?"

"I believe I have a deck of cards in my purse." Maria got up and rummaged through her purse. "Here we go!" The withered cards had a slight brown tint to them. Maria used to play Gin with her grandfather and kept them when they cleaned out his house after he died from prostate cancer. John was there for her and helped her get through the major loss, since Maria was the unspoken favorite of her grandfather's. The cards were a close memory of him.

"What do you want to play?" Rey asked.  
"Texas Hold 'Em."  
"You're on, Dawg!"  
The two played a couple rounds then switched to an endless game of war. They ended it on a draw so then they decided to play Go Fish.  
"Do you have any fours?"  
"Go fish."  
Maria took a card from the pile and placed it with the others.  
Maria and Rey heard the door open and they both turned their heads.  
"Maria, I'm-" But he stopped when he saw Rey. "Back."  
Of course John was still friends with Rey but things felt a bit weird between them since the zoo incident.  
"Hey John!" Rey greeted his friend. "What good, man?" He stood up and walked over to John. They fist bumped and 'man hugged.'  
"Rey! What're you doing here, man?"  
"I came by to see if you wanted to chill then Maria was here and said you were out so we chilled for awhile."  
"Alright! How long you staying?"  
Rey looked at the time. "Whoa! I actually got to get going. I'll see ya, man. See ya, chica." Rey turned to say goodbye to Maria to find her looking at his cards.

"Uhh… Bye Rey!" Maria smiled brightly. They all laughed. Rey left the two. Maria collected the cards and set them on the table.

"Since they're gonna be here in an hour, do you wanna go get the movies now?" John asked Maria.  
"Sure. Just let me get my shoes and coat." Maria slipped her Converse on and put on her black peat coat. She grabbed her phone and her purse and they left.

Blockbuster was only a block and a half away so they walked. When they got there they split up to find movies. A few minutes later, John walked up to Maria with puppy dog eyes.

"Let's see it." John pulled out 12 Rounds and Maria laughed.

"Hey, this is a classic film." John defended.

"It came out last year. How is it a classic?"

"Uhm… Well I'm in it so what does it matter. That already gives it two thumbs up."

"Fine we'll get it but we're watching this first." Maria held up The Notebook.

"No! Do we have to?"

"I haven't seen it in forever. The last time was when—" Maria stopped herself when she realized that the last time she had watched it was on her and John's movie night about five months ago. When Maria was crying, John was making fun of the sappiness. "It was awhile ago."

"Fine. Let's get something else then, too."

They arrived at the cash register with 12 Rounds, The Notebook, American Pie, and High Fidelity. They paid and walked back to the hotel.

"See. We can compromise." John said putting his arm around Maria as they left the store.

.:.

"I still can't believe you've never seen High Fidelity. I mean, it's classic John Cusak." John said, exasperated, sitting on the couch in their hotel.

"Honestly I've never heard of it before." Maria told him, taking her jacket off and draping it over a chair. She sat down next to John. She smiled as the baby started to kick. She had almost forgotten about it, since it wasn't really responding when Rey was here.

"It's 6:45." John said turning on the television and began flipping through channels.

"You're point?" Maria asked as she stole the remote from John and flipped to a soap opera.

"We have a half hour until Trish and Dave will be here." John told her, taking the remote back and quickly changing the channel.

"Once again, your point?" Maria question trying to get the remote back, but John quickly moved his hand.

"We have fifteen minutes for a quickie." John glanced down, hopeful.

Maria looked up at him. She stoked his cheek. John thought she was actually going to say yes. She looked him in the eyes.

"John." She breathed. "It only takes you three." A smile spread across her face. She turned back to the television and stole the remote back.

John was shocked to say the least. "And a half." He countered, keeping it a joke. What he said before was a half joke. If Maria said no, then it was a joke. If she said yes, well then let's just say he wouldn't be able to contain himself.

"Like that makes it any better." She nudged his side.

"It does. By thirty seconds." Maria giggled as she turned the channel to Family Guy. John wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she settled into his chest.

For the next fifteen minutes they watched television. During the show, Maria felt a sickly feeling in her stomach. She threw John's arm off of her and ran towards the bathroom. John was right behind her as she lifted the toilet seat and released her lunch into the porcelain. She sat back as she calmed herself. Maria looked up at John. Maria heard her phone ring.

"I'll get it." John said as she picked herself up and got her toothbrush.

John checked the caller ID and answered the phone. "Yeah Rey?"

"John?" Rey asked confused.

"Maria's… uhh… indisposed." John spoke for her.

"Okay, well I left my sunglasses there."

John looked around and saw them on an end table that flanked the couch. "Were they on a table next to the couch?"

"Yeah. That's where I left them."

"When do you wanna come by and get them?"

"Maybe I'll send Shawn by. Would that be okay?"  
"Uhm," John was hesitant, "Yeah but I think he's doing something with Paul."  
"Well I'll get them somehow." John heard a knock on the door.  
"I got to go. Talk to you later man."

"Bye."

John went to get the door.

"Davey!" John exclaimed.

"Johnny!" Dave exclaimed back.

"Trishy!" Trish, with her hands filled with pizza boxes, exclaimed feeling left out. Dave leant down and kissed her head.

"Maria's in the bathroom." John told Trish. Dave and John hugged which turned into a waist lock and the two began to wrestle. Trish set the pizza and beer down on the table and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Ria, you in there?" Trish called. Maria opened the door with a foamy mouth full of toothpaste.

"Hey!" Maria said with a toothbrush in her mouth.

"Hey girlie, how ya doing?"

Maria mumbled with the toothbrush but Trish stopped her. "Ria, take the toothbrush out of your mouth."

Maria washed out her mouth. "Sorry. I was trying to say I'm alright but I threw up twice today."  
"Honey, what did you do? Two times?"

"It was disgusting."

"So how's my future niece?" Trish said glancing toward Maria's slightly extended stomach.

"He or she is doing very well thank you!"

"Your tummy isn't too big for 14 weeks, you know."

"I know," Maria said, "Should I be worried about that?"

"I'm not sure, but you can ask at your appointment tomorrow. What movies did you get?"  
"12 Rounds, High Fidelity, American Pie, and The Notebook."

"Great! I haven't seen The Notebook in forever!"

"Me either." The two walked over to get pizza.

"Trish?" Dave called to her.  
"Yes David."

"Would you be a doll and grab me a beer?"

"Ooh! Me too!" John called.

Trish grabbed three beers and pulled out a bottle of coke and handed it to Maria.

"Who's that for?" Maria asked.

"You, prego. No alcohol for you."

"Oh, right." Maria frowned slightly. They grabbed their pizza and drinks and walked over to the couch.

"What are we watching first?" Dave asked as he received his beer from his girlfriend and opened it.

"I don't care." Maria said, sitting down next to John. She gave him his beer and took a bite of her pizza.

"Let's watch 12 Rounds." John suggested.

"No!" The three said in unison.

"Aww man. Why not? It's a classic!"

"Johnny, we went over this. It's not a classic." Maria rubbed his stomach. She smiled slightly as she felt the ridges of his abs.

"How about The Notebook." Trish offered.  
"No!" John and Dave said.

"Fine what about American Pie?" Dave compromised.

"Okay." Maria agreed.

"Great." Trish sat down next to Dave and snuggled into his side. Dave picked up her pizza and took a bite.

"Hey!" Dave laughed and fed Trish a bite.

"Fine. We'll watch American Pie… even though it's not a classic." John mumbled in disappointment.

"John!" Maria scolded him. The baby kicked when she looked up at him. She put a hand on her stomach and took a bite of her pizza. John put his arm around her shoulders and she took her place at his side.

They watched the movie occasionally getting up to get more pizza or another drink. After American Pie was over, Trish asked the group, "What should we watch next?"

"12 Rounds!" John said immediately.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"How about High Fidelity?" Maria asked.

"I could do that." Dave commented.

"Alright." Trish said getting up to put the next DVD in.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." Maria said getting up and walking over toward the bathroom. "My legs fell asleep." She told everyone while laughing. They laughed at her wobbly walk.

Trish set the movie up and waited for Maria. Maria came back after getting another slice of pizza and hitting the lights.

They watched High Fidelity and after that was over, they tried to decide on another movie.

"I really wanna see The Notebook!" Trish whined.

"I'd rather watch 12 Rounds." John said. This time Dave agreed.

"Yeah. No Notebook!"

"Fine. I'm getting tired anyway, I'll probably fall asleep." Maria gave in followed by a yawn.

"No! Seriously, guys, it's a good movie. It's a classic!" John argued.

"John. How many times do I have to tell you. It's not a classic. It's just not." Maria corrected him.

"You just wait…" John huffed. Dave got up and put the movie in.

"Uhm, before we start, Maria, can I talk to you in the other room?"

"Sure. You boys stay here." She scolded them. Maria got up and followed Trish to the kitchen.

"Maria, keep this a secret, okay." Trish whispered.

"Sure, hon. What?"

"I think I'm pregnant."

"What?!"

"Well, Davey and I had an incident a little while ago where the condom broke and I'm really late and…" Trish stopped to sniffle as wipe a tear that had formed in her eye, "and he said he didn't want kids and I'm so scared, Ria. I don't know what to do!"

Maria gave her best friend a hug. "It'll be okay sweetie! If he doesn't stay with you then I'll help raise it, just like you said you'd help me. But hon, Dave's a great guy and I'm sure he'll stay."

"I really hope so."

"When are you going to tell him?"

"I think tomorrow. I just don't know how to."

"I'm not exactly an expert in this area…" Maria smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, I think I'll butter him up with dinner." Trish smiled and Maria giggled.

"Dry your eyes and lets go. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay," Trish said, wiping tears from her eyes. Maria walked back into the room and Trish, who was thankful the lights were turned off so Dave couldn't see her swollen eyes and wet cheeks, followed. Dave pressed play and the four watched 12 Rounds.

"You know, Johnny, it actually wasn't that bad." Maria nudged his side and smiled up at him.

"I told you guys it was a classic."

"I wouldn't say classic but it was pretty good. Probably up in my top 30 favorite movies." Trish commented

"Top 30?!" John asked incredulous.

"Okay, top 25." Trish gave in. "Baby, what'd you think." Trish turned her attention to Dave who was sleeping peacefully with his arm wrapped around Trish. Trish tried to shake him, but he wouldn't budge. She leant up and kissed him on the cheek. His eyes shot open abruptly.

"No, I don't want soy sauce with that!"

John, Maria and Trish laughed at him.

"How was your nap, Sleeping Beauty?" Trish playfully asked him.

"Mmmm. Not long enough." He smile cheekily at her. Dave leant down and kissed Trish on the lips. Her hand snaked around his neck and pulled him in closer.

"Get a room would ya!" Maria yelled, throwing a pillow at them.

"Actually I think it's Davey's bed time." Trish smiled up at him and winked.

Maria yawned. "I think Ri-Ri and little Johnny Jr. here ready for bed as well." John noted.

Dave and Trish stood up. Trish went over to give Maria a hug.  
"Goodnight, hon." Trish said in Maria's ear.

"Good luck." Maria told her. Trish stepped away and Maria winked. Trish smiled as she left with Dave who yelled, "Goodnight, guys," before shutting the door.

"Bed time?" John asked her.

"Yes." Maria laughed sadly. "Carry me. I'm so tired."

John groaned in response.

"Pleeeeease?" Maria whined.

"Fine." John stood up and swooped his arms under Maria and carried her bridal style to the bed. He steadied her with one arm as he pulled back the covers and slid her in. He covered her up and kissed her on the forehead. He slid his arm away but was surprised to find her grip tighten around his wrist. She pulled him into bed with her. John pulled the covers back on the left side and slid in next to her. Maria cuddled up in a ball, her back to him. He spooned her and began rubbing her stomach.

After a few minutes of silence, Maria asked, "Do you really think it's going to be a boy?"

"Yeah." John answered. He felt thumping under his hand and a smile grew on his lips.  
"How do you know?" Maria turned to look at him.

"Because I want a girl."

"Do you really?"

"Yeah. I only had brothers and I think I'd like a girl."

"Then why do you think it's a boy?"

"Just because."

"Just because, why?"

"I don't normally get what I want."

"Why do you say that?"  
"Well I want you."

Maria stayed silent and turned so her back was facing John again. Her hand joined his on her stomach. Maria shut her eyes, trying to kept him out of her thoughts.

_I want you, too._

**A/N: Love Pearl, that was for you. I really appreciate you reading and reviewing all my stories. Actually I appreciate all of you for reading and reviewing my stories but she motivated me to finish the chapter and post it to you all. Thanks everyone! Now REVIEW! :)**


	18. Fightin and fixin

**A/N: Guys I really want to thank you because those reviews were amazing and they inspired me to write this next chapter and get it out as soon as possible for you. Thank you all! Also, I'm **_**considering**_** rewriting the first 10 or 11 or whatever chapters. I feel horrible for saying this but at the same time I don't. I want this story to be all me and I love PartyOnTheMoon (she changed her name) for giving me this and I love how she started it, it's mine now and I want it completely. I won't change the basic plot but I do want my own words. Like I said I'm **_**considering **_**so let me know if I should or not. I want this to be an amazing story and it is my longest ever as of last chapter. ****It's Just My Heart**** was only 16 chapters so we broke the record last chapter! But I don't feel as if it's my accomplishment because of what I said before. Once again let me know!**

Chapter 18

Maria jolted awake. She looked down at her stomach, confused. The baby kicked, but it felt, strange. Urgent. She began to rub her stomach. The soothing strokes reminded her of the peacefulness of the night before. She bent her knees, her legs spread, and rested her elbows on her knees. Maria ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, shaking her head in a last attempt to knock some sanity into herself after her thoughts of John.

Her dream didn't help either. It was her and John in the future they had a daughter who was 4 and a son who was 2. She could easily see their future becoming like the one in her dream. The only difference was how much lighter the ring finger on her left hand was.

The thought hadn't even crossed her mind. She would have a bastard son or daughter. The thought seemed strange and surreal. Painful as she thought about his or her future. She shook the thought out of her head, not wanting her day to have been tainted by stray thoughts.

Maria checked the time. 7:45. Something felt weird maybe it was the fact that it was so early or that Shawn wasn't next to her. _No. Hmm… Why does this feel so weird?_

She realized the emptiness of the bed and the ruffled sheets next to her. John was already up. This was unexpected as Maria had always been the one to wake him up an hour before they were supposed to leave for wherever, just as he had asked her the night before. Then, after the countless times trying to get him up after his wakeup call, he would jump in the shower fifteen minutes before they would leave and actually be ready on time, looking gorgeous. Maria marveled at the memory.

The baby kicked lightly before a grumble roared through her stomach. She threw her feet over the side of the bed, briefly looking out the window to the beautiful sunrise of New York City, and walked to the kitchen area of the hotel room. Maria grabbed some leftover pizza from the fridge before calling out to John.

No answer.

She turned, searching for him, and saw a piece of paper hanging innocently on the door. As Maria walked up to it, taking a bite of the cold pizza, she recognized John's handwriting instantly.

_Ri_

_Went to the gym and to do some stuff. Be back before the appointment._

_John_

Just as Maria finished reading the barely legible note, she heard the DX theme in the distance. Her ringtone blared as she walked into the bedroom where her phone was hooked up to the charger.

"Hey, Shawn!" Maria greeted happily.

"Hey, babe. How'd you sleep?" Maria's smile faded as her previous thoughts filled her head.

"Alright."

"Was it awkward with John in the room?" _You mean the bed, _Maria corrected in her head.

"Yeah, kinda. Trish and Dave came over last night. It was fun. I can't remember the last time Trish and I hung out."  
"That's good."

"Mhmm."

"So are you ready for the appointment today?"

"Sure am." Maria smile, taking another bite of her pizza.

"So I'll be there around 10:30. That okay?" Maria stayed silent and confused.

"Shawn I was going with John. He's taking me."

"Oh well I thought you wanted me there."

"You can be there. John just wanted to be there and… yeah. That's fine." Maria rambled, imagining the awkwardness that would await her. For some reason she didn't feel like Shawn should be there. She's been starting to feel like that a lot. Like Shawn didn't belong. Maria instantly felt guilty for feeling that way. She's been feeling guilty a lot lately. Like Halloween. And when she told John about his child. And yesterday. And last night. And when she woke up.

"So is 10:30 alright?" Shawn asked again.

"For what?" Maria asked, Shawn's question taking her out of her thoughts.

"For me to come to your room." Shawn told her, rolling his eyes on the other end.

"Right. Sure. That's fine."

"You want to get some lunch afterwards? Just us?"

"Sure. I'd love to." Maria smiled.

"I'm pretty sure we haven't been on an actual date yet so let this be the first."

"Finally." Maria joked. "I'm sorry but I really need to get in the shower."

"Don't be sorry, smelly." Shawn teased.

"Ha ha." Maria sarcastically laughed.

"I'll see ya at 10:30, babe."

"See ya then."

"I love you."

"Love you, too." Maria replied quickly, without the trace of a smile on her face. She shut her phone after she heard a dial tone. She ran a hand through her red locks and sighing before finishing her pizza and taking a shower.

She dried off afterwards with her towel and went into the other room to pick out her clothes. She changed into an orange V-necked long sleeved shirt and a pair of skinny jeans.

She blow dried her hair and finished getting ready for her appointment with the OB/GYN. She was ready to go with an hour and a half to spare.

Maria was bored.

Bored was an understatement to how truly bored she really was.

She lay down on the couch and began flipping through the channels but absolutely nothing was on television at 9:00 in the morning. She settled for Bringing Down the House on a random channel.

.:.

A little over an hour later, she heard the lock turn and the door pull open. Maria looked toward the door to see John walking in with a smile.

"Good morning." Maria welcomed John.

"Morning." John said, going towards the mini fridge and grabbing a water bottle.

"Got your note." Maria smiled at him.

"Well, I'd hope so. Otherwise I would've wasted paper for nothing." John kidded, lifting up Maria's legs to sit down and placing them on his lap.

"Shawn's coming too." Maria stated as she turned her attention back to Queen Latifah and Steve Martin.

"Really?" John questioned before taking a swig from the bottle. "Why?"

"Because he wants to be there."

"He has no reason to be there." John stated firmly.

"Well he's going to be."

"Whatever." John retorted. Maria peered over at him; he looked deep in thought. John turned to her to ask, "have you seen a doctor since you found out?"  
"Just the one that took care of me when I passed out a little while ago. But this guy we're seeing is a specialist so he'll tell us everything we need to know." She smiled briefly in response.

"Do you wanna know what it's going to be?"

"No." Maria stated, her thoughts growing distant and her hand subconsciously reaching for her stomach. "I want to be surprised."

"Alright then it's a surprise." John settled.

"Don't you want to know?" Maria curiously asked as she looked up at him. She knew John wasn't too fond of surprises. He only enjoyed the rare and occasional one but didn't like when he knew one was coming.

"Well, you know I can't keep a secret. And it's not _my_ baby, it's _ours_. And you don't want to know and that's fine."

"You sure?" Maria questioned, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Positive." John reaffirmed as he placed his hand over her legs and ran his hand up and down the denim. Maria settled back into the couch, relaxing at his touch.

"We should probably leave soon." Maria told him. John lifted up Maria's legs once again and headed toward his suitcase. Maria watched as he changed into a plain white T-shirt that fitted to his built form yet hung loosely in just the right places, a light blue and green plaid shirt which he left unbuttoned and his usual baggy jean shorts. John looked amazing, as always. He slipped on his sneakers again and put his water bottle back in the fridge to keep it cool.

Maria stood up and sauntered over to the door where her tall chestnut UGGS were fixated. She slipped her feet into the warm boots and held onto her peat coat.

"You ready?" John asked from the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table.

"We have to wait until Shawn gets here."

"Why don't you just tell him to meet us there. Does he know where it is?"

"I think so. Let me call him." Maria grabbed her phone from the table and pressed speed dial 2. Shawn picked up on the third ring.

"Hey, I'm just about to leave now." He told her as he picked up his keys and headed for the door.

"Okay. Would you mind meeting us there though? John's anxious and wants to leave now."

"Yeah, I guess." Maria noted Shawn's disappointment.

"We can use your car to get lunch then." Maria smiled, trying to cheer him up.

"Okay. I'll meet you there"

"See ya in a bit, hon."

"Bye." Maria hung up the phone and stuffed it into her jean pocket. Her pockets were very tight. Her jeans were tighter because of her distended stomach. She settled for putting her phone in her purse.

"He's going to meet us there." She turned around to tell John, but only to find him right in front of her. John's eyes glued to Maria's, he tucked Maria's hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek.

"You look beautiful." He whispered in her ear before heading for the door. He left it open as he disappeared down the hallway. After Maria recovered from John's unexpected compliment, she followed him, closing the door behind her and found John waiting for the elevator. Just as she stepped next to him, the doors opened and the two stepped inside. Maria slipped her coat on as the elevator descended. She turned to John and noticed that he was in nothing but a short sleeved shirt.

"You're going to get sick."

John leaned against the wall of the elevator with a smirk. "And how will I get sick?"

"It's the end of November and you're not wearing a coat."

"Maria, come here." John motioned, opening his arms for her. Maria hesitated slightly before returning his embrace. "Do you feel how warm I am?" John smirked.

"Mhmm." Maria nuzzled her head into his chest. John ran his hand up and down her back.

"There's no way I can catch a cold. I haven't been sick since--"

"_Since_ you didn't wear a jacket and got caught in the rain in January a few years ago. You were sick for almost ten days and I had to take care of you."

"Yes but my immune system has gotten much better since then."

"I'm sure." Maria backed away, John pulled her back into the hug. He kissed her head and squeezed her tighter. The elevator opened to the lobby and he grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. They walked to the front desk and John asked the manger to get their car. John kissed Maria's head as they waited for the valet to drive his car up front.

"John, someone could see us. Stop." Maria warned him.

"See us doing what?" John leaned down to whisper in her ear, "We're supposed to be dating now. It's not like before when we had to be careful where someone could have found out. We're supposed to be together and falling in love again. It's for the fans." John pulled away after leaving a kiss on her cheek, causing Maria to blush. The car pulled up and John gave the valet a tip and slid into the drivers seat. Maria walked around and sat in the passenger seat. John sped away toward the hospital.  
"John, slow down." Maria scolded him.  
"Stop back seat driving. Have I ever been in an accident? No. So just pick a radio station and calm down. You worry too much." John told her. Maria reached toward the dash board and pressed the seek button looking for a song. She kept the station when she heard 'How Do You Sleep' by Jesse McCartney and started singing along.

_It's been 'bout a year now  
Ain't seen nothing from you  
I've been missing you crazy  
How do you, how do you sleep?  
I found the letter you wrote me  
It still smells just like you  
Man, those sweet memories  
How do you, how do you sleep?_  
John thought about the lyrics. 'Break up song. Great. Thanks. 'Preciate it.'  
John was glad once that song was over but it was short lived as Whatcha Say by Jason DeRulo.  
_Mmm, whatcha say_

_Ooh, that you only meant well_

_Of course you did  
Mmm, whatcha say_

_That it's all for the best_

_Because it is._

John decided to sing along too. The song was catchy and to him, he felt like he was explaining what happened between him and Maria and Mickie. Maria peeked over at him laughing lightly. The song was over soon and commercials began to play.  
"Maria?" John turned to her at a red light.  
"John?" She repositioned herself so her head was resting against the window.  
"Do you know which time it was?" John looked out the windshield hiding his shame.  
"Which time was what?" Maria asked, her eyes focused on her stomach and her hand rubbing it.  
"Which time this happened." John reworded, placing his hand on her stomach, causing Maria's head to jolt up.  
"Yes." Maria quietly replied, her eyes going back down to her stomach where John's hand rested. His hand seemed to fit perfectly around her belly. Her heart beat started to race and the baby kicked at the same pace.  
"Whoa!" John began rubbing her stomach. "You alright?" Maria grabbed his hand and intertwined his hand with her left and covering it with her right, resting her head on his arm letting John drive with his dominant left hand. Maria started to get in her past routines with John. She started to remember the time she got pregnant.  
She was taken out of her trance when she heard John's phone ring. Maria let go of the warmth of his hand and rested straight back in her seat. Sighing, John reached for his phone. Looking at the caller ID before he answered, "Hi, ma."  
Maria turned toward him with a quirked brow.  
"Yeah. I'm doin aight. My neck's a little sore but you know... Did he now?... I'm not too sure what I'm doing for Thanksgiving... Or Christmas, Ma. I don't know... I... Don't know if Maria would come too." John peered down at Maria who's eyes perked up at the mention of her name. She had joined John's family for Thanksgiving for the past three years but now the situation was very different. She shrugged her shoulders and her mouth twisted in confusion.  
"Ma, I got to go... Where? Uhm... Well I'm driving and I could get pulled over... Love you too... I'll call you later when I know... See ya."  
"How's your mom doing?" Maria asked as John shoved his phone back in his pocket.  
"Good. Nothing really new. Boog's got a girlfriend now though."  
"Cute." Maria commented with a smile. She was good friends with all of John's brothers. Steve, the brother that was born after John, was closer to Maria's age and had tried to hit on her a few times when John first took her home but he backed off after a threat from John and seeing the way she looked at him. Now they were all good friends and Maria liked his family a lot. She began to rub her stomach again at the thought of a family. She wouldn't mind three or four kids running around. She just didn't know how that would happen with her career and traveling and John and her being broken up and her and Shawn being together and the fact that Shawn wouldn't want that many kids since he already had two. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair thinking about what she could do.  
Her situation wasn't fair to Shawn and while she found herself falling in love with him, she wanted him to have the best.  
"Would you want to come to Thanksgiving with my parents again this year?"  
"Well, we'd have to tell them sometime."  
"Tell them what?"  
"Grandkid." Maria stated bluntly pointing at her stomach. John pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and placed his hat on his head.  
"John." Maria called as she stepped out of the car.  
"Yeah, Ri."  
"I'm scared" Maria confessed, her voice cracking.  
John walked over to her and gave her a hug. She started to tear up as he rocked her back and forth rubbing his arm up and down her back. "Me too." He whispered in her ear. "Let's go." He kissed her head and grabbed her hand as they walked into the hospital. John led Maria to the elevator and they rode it up to the fifth floor. They walked into the empty waiting room, Maria releasing John's hand when she saw Shawn. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as his latched to her waist before they pulled away and greeted with a kiss.  
John felt angry and sad and scared and vulnerable and stupid for thinking Maria was considering taking him back. 'Damn, man. What the hell is wrong with you? Man up. Don't be a pussy.' She walked over and sat down in a waiting chair, picking up a magazine and flipping through the pages.  
Maria kissed Shawn again as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. "I missed you."  
"I missed you too." Shawn kissed her and took her hand and sat down next to John. "So how are you doing?"  
"Okay, kinda scared." Maria told him resting her head on Shawn's shoulder.  
"You don't need to be. But you do need to fill out these forms." Shawn informed her, handing her a clipboard.  
"Okay." Maria sighed. She grabbed a pen and filled out the information. 'Name? Maria Louise Kanellis. Married/Relationship/Single? Relationship. Pregnant? Yes. 0-17, 18-34, 35+? 18-34.' Maria rambled off the answers in her head and Shawn and John made small talk.  
"So how's it going, John?" Shawn asked.  
John glanced up annoyed from his magazine before returning his gaze to an article on fish and tackle that had suddenly captured his attention. "Fine." He answered stoically, before turning his attention back to the fishing magazine. He wasn't paying attention to what he was reading, his thoughts were swimming with what he could expect of his future, what Maria would want, hell, even this appointment. John shut the magazine, running his fingers through his cropped hair. He told Maria he was scared and he was. He was terrified, scared shitless. He had expected this when he and Maria were dating. He had the ring in his bed side table, waiting for the perfect time to bring it out and pop the question. He placed it in a box he labeled junk  
with a bunch of other stuff from their relationship after Mickie made her move on him. He felt so stupid. Why did he fall for Mickie's tricks. She put thoughts in his mind that weren't there. Sure him and Maria were going through a rough patch but he planned on getting out of it with his 1 carat princess cut diamond ring set on a thin white gold band. She would say yes and they could've had this baby together. Maybe even getting married before it was born. She wouldn't have kept it from him for as long. And most importantly, she wouldn't have been with Shawn. And what would his parents think? His dad would kill him. What would her parents think? Her dad already wanted to shoot him and this would be the perfect motivation. John was an abnormally large man thus making him an abnormally large target for a gun to shoot at. And while he was never one to back down from a challenge, he knew he'd lose in a fight with a .22 rifle. What about his future son or daughter? Where would they grow up? What school would they go to? John sighed and closed his eyes. What about names? He wasn't sure if he  
wanted there to be a John Cena the third, considering he was already a junior. He had no idea. He was thankfully taken out his thoughts when a nurse entered the waiting area and called for Maria. John, Shawn, and Maria followed the nurse who took them to a room for Maria's ultrasound, where there was a reclined chair, similar to one in a dentist's office, and a chair next to it. John took a seat in the chair as Maria climbed into the reclined chair after taking her coat off. Shawn, after glaring at John for taking his seat, stood behind Maria and placed his hands protectively on her shoulders. John turned the chair so he was facing Maria and he placed his hands on the chair. The nurse sat down and began looking over Maria's paperwork.  
"So, Ms. Kanellis, how long have you been pregnant?"  
"It'll be fourteen weeks in three days."  
"Okay. Who is the father?"  
"I am." John told the nurse.  
"And who is this?" She asked, nodding toward Shawn.  
"My boyfriend, Shawn Michaels."  
"Alright. When did you find out about your pregnancy?"  
"When I was two months pregnant. So in the beginning of October."  
"Have you had any alcohol, coffee, tea or some sort of energy drink since you've been pregnant?"  
"I've had alcohol but the last time was the beginning of September and I don't drink coffee tea or energy drinks."  
"Good, so you got pregnant around the beginning of August and had your last drink of alcohol after being pregnant for one month. Did you not notice that you hadn't menstruated in two months?"  
"Well with my job, I work out a lot which makes me not get my period all the time. It's normal for it to be late or for it to not come at all."  
"Did you dye your hair in the time that you have been pregnant?"  
"Yes. Twice. Am I not supposed to?"  
"No you're not. We can check if the baby is okay when we take the ultrasound shortly."  
"Why can't she dye her hair?" John asked confused. How was he supposed to know?  
"The chemicals from the dye could harm the baby. Possibly stunting growth."  
"Alright." John replied nervously, hoping his child was safe and healthy.  
"It says you are a professional wrestler, yes?"  
"Yes."  
"Had you experienced any hits to the stomach that caused unusual pain?"  
"No, I don't wrestle every week and they had me on some segments but not wrestling too much."  
"What does that have to do with her being pregnant?" Shawn asked confused.  
Before the nurse could answer, John interjected, "If she got hit in the stomach, the baby could have died."  
"Or could have caused some problems with it." The nurse continued.  
"Right. Also, Maria was in a match in late August which ended in her being slammed on her stomach." Maria looked shocked that John remembered her match with Beth from a little over two months ago. They weren't dating at the time yet he still knew. He still cared. She smiled as John stared intently at the nurse, listening to everything she was saying.  
"Has the baby kicked yet?"  
"Yes. First it was four days ago, I think." Maria answered, staring at John for confirmation.  
"Yeah, four days."  
"How often has it been kicking?"  
"Uhm, I'd probably say four or fives times an hour on average but I haven't felt it in my sleep."  
The nurse nodded as she wrote down what Maria was telling her before continuing. "Have there been any unusually hard kicks?"  
"No." Maria answered, shaking her head.  
"Where have the kicks been?"  
"What do you mean?" Maria placed a hand on her stomach.  
"Have they been on the left side of your body or the right or in the middle or all around?"  
"I think the left and the middle."  
"Okay." The nurse nodded scribbling down the answer to her questions. "Do you want to know the gender?" She looked up and leaned on her clipboard.  
"No. I want to be surprised." Maria stated.  
"Would the father?" The nurse asked turning to John.  
"No. We both want to be surprised."  
"Alright. Now we're going to do the ultrasound. Maria please lift up your shirt to just under you bust."  
Maria did as she was told, revealing her stomach and resting her hands over the top of her stomach. John noted the bump and smiled proudly, and warily in anticipation. The nurse squirted the cold goo on her lower stomach and Maria jumped at the temperature. Her heart started to race and she reached for John's hand. He sandwiched her hand with his and rested his chin on them. The nurse spread the ultrasound gel over Maria's stomach and turned on the monitor.  
"First we need to find the heartbeat."  
Maria didn't breathe as she listened to the _thump_ _thump_ of his or her heartbeat.  
"Here is the head." The nurse pointed out. Maria couldn't breathe and her eyes welled up with tears. She felt John's hands tighten around hers. "Here is the hand." The nurse continued. Maria smiled and turned to look at John who had tears in his eyes as well. Maria had never ever seen John cry and she was sure to remember this. She looked back at the screen as the nurse pointed out the foot. Maria's chest started to heave and she let the tears well over. She watched her baby move and her right hand went to wipe the tears from her eyes so she could see clearer. She stared at the screen in awe.  
"Is everything healthy?" Maria croaked.  
"Yes. Your baby is in perfect condition." Maria smiled and sighed with relief, along with John. "Alright, we'll take a snap shot of this for you to keep and then you can wipe the gel off." The nurse told her pressing a button, capturing the image on the monitor. Maria wiped her tears again and looked over at John who had just wiped a tear before it rolled down his cheek. He looked at Maria, smiled and kissed her hand. Maria looked up at Shawn who didn't have an expression on his face. She thought he was trying to hide his anger. Maria stood up after the nurse stepped out of the way and went tithe restroom to wipe the ultrasound gel off of her stomach. The nurse stepped out of the room to give the results to the doctor and to get the ultrasound picture. John sighed back in his seat and ran his hand over his face. He closed his eyes and rested in his chair. John heard movement so he peeked open an eye to see Shawn pacing.  
"What are you so worried about?" John wondered.  
Shawn didn't answer, he just ran a hand through his hair. The nurse returned with the envelope of the ultrasound and handed it to John. He opened it and took out the image of his baby.  
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why aren't you and Maria still together?"  
"I, uh, cheated on her. We broke up in the end of August."  
"Do you know if she has been stressed more than usual?"  
"Yes." Shawn answered, staring a hole through John. "She was very stressed. I think that it was the reason she passed out. Then we found out she was pregnant but the doctor didn't say anything about the baby being unhealthy."  
"Good. Has her stress level been down since then."  
"Somewhat." John answered. "She still seems nervous about being pregnant but otherwise she seems to be acting normal."  
"Okay."  
"Do you think we could have an extra copy of the ultrasound?" John asked holding up the black and white photo.  
"Sure. Would you like it now or would you like it sent to an address?"  
"To my home address, please." John answered.  
"Okay, write your address here and it will arrive within the next three days." John did as he was told and handed the clipboard back to her. Maria stepped out of the bathroom.  
"Maria do you have any questions for me?" The nurse asked.  
"Uhm. Yes but I'd like to ask them alone."  
"Sure. Would you gentlemen mind sitting in the waiting area?"  
"Okay." John said standing up and heading for the door.  
Shawn walked over and kissed Maria on the cheek. "See you when you're done." And he followed John to the corridor, sitting down in a huff once in the waiting room.  
"What's up your ass?" John asked.  
Shawn didn't answer. He was pissed that John was making moves on his girlfriend. They were in love and just because she was carrying John's baby doesn't give him the right to be holding her hand when they walk places and he saw them hug when they were in the parking lot. And the way she grabbed his hand when she was getting the ultrasound. Shawn was burning up with anger and John was acting like nothing was wrong. He had to wait until Maria was out so he could ask her what was going on. He sat in the chair in silence, his anger brewing inside.  
John stared at the picture of his baby inside Maria's womb while he waited for Maria to emerge from the room. He was memorizing every detail. He looked to see if he could tell whether or not it was a boy but he couldn't tell because of the umbilical cord. He began to think about him being a father.  
Would he be a good father? Would him being on the road affect his child's life? Where would they stay? Would Maria move back to Ottawa? Would their child travel with them on the road? Would Maria quit? So many different scenarios ran through his head. Would they have a boy or a girl? Would it be healthy? Would Maria stay with Shawn forever? Why didn't she want him back? Oh right, because he cheated on her. Why did he do that anyway? Maria and him were getting into fights but that didn't mean he didn't love her and she didn't love him. John relaxed slightly, seeing Maria walk out of the examination room. She walked over to the front desk and made another appointment for when she was in her next trimester. She walked over to Shawn and John.  
"Ready to go?" She said to Shawn.  
"Where are you going?" John asked.  
"Shawn wanted to take me out to lunch. And I need to go to the bathroom."  
"Okay. Meet me out front. I'll pull the car around."  
"Alright." Maria smiled before heading to the restroom. She walked out shortly after and saw John waiting outside the elevator.  
"What are you still doing here?"  
"I wanted to talk to you."  
"About?"  
"Us."  
"John, I can't do this now. Shawn's waiting."  
"Let him. You never used to care what he thought."  
"Yes but now he's my boyfriend. I care what he thinks just like how I cared what you thought."  
"You don't anymore?"  
"Less and less everyday."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" John asked, angry.  
"John I told you that I wasn't over you and now I'm with Shawn and I'm starting to."  
"Does this mean you pick him?"  
"I don't know John. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea. You said you were in love with me then you cheat on me then you say you want me back after you broke my heart into a million pieces. I can see where you're coming from but you need to see my position. I am having a baby with a man I'm not with anymore. I finally found someone who treats me like I should be treated and you're mad because I won't take you back." Maria turned and pressed the button for the elevator.  
"Do you not want this baby?" John asked quietly.  
Maria sighed in anger. She turned toward John who took off and headed to the stairs.  
"John!" She called as she followed him. "John please stop." Maria confronted him in the staircase.  
"I do want this baby but all I'm saying is that it's not ideal."  
"How isn't it ideal? Inform me."  
"John I'm twenty nine years old pregnant with a baby whose father cheated on me with a woman I truly hate. I can't do my job and I don't know how I'm going to be able to support myself. Plus my boyfriend and the father hate each other. That's how it's not ideal." Maria vented, tears forming in her eyes.  
"Damnit." John cursed aimlessly, pounding his fist into the wall.  
"Plus I'm not over the father." Maria added silently.  
John looked at her and felt incredibly guilty for causing her so much pain. He walked forward and gave her a hug but she pushed him away and continued her descent on the stairs. John followed silently.  
"Shawn's pissed off for some reason, by the way. Just thought I should warn you." John told her before heading in the direction of his car. "Will you come back to the room later?" He stopped mid-step and asked.  
"I don't know yet." Maria told him before walking toward where Shawn was idling the car.

"Let me know." John told her before finishing the journey to his car.  
Maria opened the door and could sense the tension.  
"Hey." Maria smiled warily.  
"Hi." John was right. Shawn was angry.  
"Where do you want to go for lunch?" Maria asked, trying to lighten his mood.  
"Wherever."  
"How about Applebee's?"  
"Sure." He replied and driving off in search of an Applebee's. Maria used her iPhone to find the closest one.  
"Make a right here." She instructed. Shawn turned sharply.  
"Calm down." Maria told him. He spotted the Applebee's and raced forward, ignoring Maria's plea. He pulled into a parking spot and got out, slamming the door roughly with Maria timidly following.  
The hostess sat them immediately in a quiet booth in the back. He sat down and opened a menu.  
"Shawn?" Maria called.  
He sighed shakily before answering, "What?"  
"What's wrong? You seem pissed."  
"I am pissed."  
"Care to tell me why?"  
"John."  
"What about him?"  
"That, Maria. Exactly that!" Shawn replied raising his voice.  
"Shawn lower your voice. Calm down."  
"Fine." Shawn took another breath before continuing. "You are constantly taking his side and spending time with him."  
"Shawn we're in a storyline. We have to act like we're dating."  
"I understand that but that doesn't mean you can ignore me. Plus, he is all over you! And you do nothing to stop him! I figured that you'd be mad enough at him that you wouldn't want that."  
"John is the father of my baby. If he wants to feel it kick or whatever, I'm not going to stop him. And while I am mad at him for cheating on me, I'm going to have to deal with him for another 18 years at the least so getting mad at him would just make it awkward so I have to deal with him."  
"Why? I don't understand why you have to."  
"Because this is his daughter or son and he wants to be in her or his life. I'm not going to take his first child away from him. Shawn you know me and I am not an asshole."  
"But I don't like how you do nothing about it when he holds your hand and hugs you."  
"Shawn, I spent my life with him for three years. He was my best friend. It's not like you could just suddenly start to hate Paul with a passion after everything that you guys went through."  
"But it seems like you want to spend time with him and you don't want to spend time with me."  
"I'm here aren't I?"  
"Yes but why were you talking to John when you left. I feel like you're cheating on me."  
Maria stood up abruptly and glared at Shawn. She walked out of the restaurant with Trish on the phone.  
"Hey hon. What's up?"  
"Where are you?"  
"Driving around. Like five minutes from the arena. Why?"  
"Can you come and get me?"  
"Sure. Where are you?" Trish asked, as she turned onto a new street.  
"At an Applebee's. It's..." Maria paused to see the street sign. "on 7th Street."  
"Oh well I'm on tenth so I'll be there in like two minutes."  
"Can you hurry?" Maria asked walking toward the cars more and hiding behind an SUV.  
"Yeah. Why though?"  
"I'll tell you when you get here."  
"Alright. I'm turning onto the street now. Where are you?"  
"I'm on the sidewalk outside of Applebee's." Maria answered walking toward the sidewalk and stepping on the concrete. She looked back and saw Shawn searching frantically for her. She saw Trish near her and walked toward her car and stepped into the passenger's seat after Trish pulled up.  
"Care to explain?" Trish asked, stopping at a light.  
"Shawn and I got in a fight and I wanted to get away. He was pissing me off." Maria's phone rang. It was Shawn so she quickly pressed the end button.  
"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Trish asked and Maria rolled her eyes so Trish complied, "What was the fight about?"  
"He thinks I'm cheating on him with John! I mean, how could he think that?"  
"Well you were being pretty snuggly with him last night."  
"Trish!" Maria yelled in disbelief. "Speaking of last night, though..." Maria began, referring to the news that Trish gave her.  
"I'm not pregnant!" Trish told her friend.  
"How do you feel about that?" Maria asked.  
"I have thought about it but I'm just not ready."  
"Did you tell Dave."  
"Yeah. We got back to the room and we were laying down and...

_Trish and Dave walked into their room and changed into their pajamas. Trish crawled into bed and Dave followed. Trish turned to face him and caressed his face before leaning in to kiss him. He ran his hand up her back and pulled her closer.  
"Dave, I need to tell you something." Trish warned him as he backed away from her slightly._

_"What?" He asked skeptically.  
"I... Uhm." Trish started, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to think of the best way to say this. "I think I might be pregnant."  
"What do you mean, 'you think you might be?'"  
"I mean that I'm late and the condom broke that one time and I think I might be pregnant."  
"Did you get tested?"  
"No, I wanted to do that with you." Trish confessed.  
"Well then let's go."  
"I actually have one. I was waiting to tell you."  
"Waiting for what?"  
"For the right time."  
"When would that have been? That condom broke at least a month ago and you always tell me when you get your period so I want to know what you were waiting for." Dave commanded, his voice raising.  
"I was waiting to see if it would come late and it's next month and now I don't know."  
"Then take out the damn thing and go." Dave said, sitting up, wiping his hand over his face. Trish stood up and timidly walked to her suitcase and pulled out the Clear Blue Digital Pregnancy Test and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She walked out about a minute later.  
"Where is it?" Dave asked standing up and walking toward her.  
"I set it on the sink. It'll be ready in three minutes." Trish said, her shaking voice cracking through her words.  
"Trish, I'm sorry. You just startled me. I don't want you to think this is your fault or that I hate you okay? We'll go through this together." Trish sniffled as he pulled her into a hug and rocked her back and forth. Trish stared at the clock and the minute-hand turned.  
"I love you." Dave whispered in her hair. His words and his deep voice made Trish cry harder, but from happiness.  
"I love you." Trish repeated him. She stood crying in his arms as they awaited their fate on the bathroom sink. The minute hand turned again.  
"The three longest minutes of my life." Trish muffled into Dave's shirt. She kissed his chest nuzzled her head further into his embrace as he kissed her neck. She watched the minute hand turn again.  
"It should be done now." Dave grabbed Trish's hand and they walked into the bathroom. He stopped her before she turned the test over.  
"Trish, if you are pregnant. I won't leave you, okay? I'll stay with you." Trish kissed him before she took the over-turned stick and turned it right side up to see that words 'Not Pregnant' written clearly. She sighed with relief and Dave wrapped his arms around her. He felt slightly disappointed because in those three minutes, he saw his life with Trish and a baby and wanted that. But having a baby now or in nine months would could break their relationship. Trish disposed of the test and pulled Dave back into the bed with her.  
He spooned her and ran his hand up and down the side of her body, over her hip and down her leg. Dave looked down and saw a tear roll down her face and over the bridge of her nose.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yeah." Trish sniffled and wiped the tear. "I just kinda started thinking about it and it wouldn't have been bad to have had a kid."  
"Me too. But, babe, you and me, we're at the top of our game right now and if you had a kid-- we had a kid-- it would just push everything off. Maybe some other time but not now."  
"Okay." Trish's voice cracked again. Dave's arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in closer, kissing her neck.  
"Do you still love me even though I'm not pregnant?"  
"Of course I do. Why would you think I didn't?"  
"Well you never said you loved me before and we dated for five months and then I said I was pregnant then you said you love me. It just seemed like you said it because you were in the moment. I wasn't sure if you meant it."  
"I meant it. I've been thinking about it for awhile and I mean it." Dave paused before asking, "Did you mean it?"  
"Of course!" Trish turned to face him, her heart swelling as she saw his smile. She kissed him before turning around and snuggling into his back and covered his arms with hers. They fell asleep with smiles on her faces._

"Awww!" Maria crooned. "So he said he loves you! That's too cute!"  
"Yeah. I'm just so relieved. I wasn't ready to be a mom."  
"You would've been a great mom." Maria said, sending another one of Shawn's calls to voicemail.  
"Maybe. But how was your appointment?"  
"Good. My baby is healthy." Maria smiled contently.  
"That's good. Did Shawn say why he thought you were cheating on him?"  
"No, I stormed out of there before it could get worse."  
"Maria! That's not good. And you did cheat on him. With John no less."  
"Yeah... I don't know. Like it didn't feel like Shawn should be at the appointment. He's being so over-protective of me. I told John before the appointment that I was scared and he gave me a hug. Shawn was like, 'that's why I'm mad because you don't push him away.' Then I was like, 'why should I push him away? We're going to have to deal with each other for the next 18 years and being a dick would just make it awkward.'"  
"But Maria, he has a right to be mad. You're still good friends with a guy who cheated on you and he's mad that you're not mad. Hon, let's face it, you were a wreck after you guys broke up. I know it, Shawn knows it. The only people who don't know it is you and John. He didn't know how you could let someone back into your life after they made you so miserable."  
"Because I think I still love him." Maria said quietly.  
"Does he know that?"  
"Who?"  
"Shawn?"  
"God no! But I mean it's been three months. That's only 90 days. I was with John for three years. I was completely head over heels in love with him. I wanted to marry him and have kids and have everything be perfect. But then he cheated on me. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't picture my life with anyone else but him and I didn't want to let him go. Then I started dating Shawn and everything started to get better. Then I found out I'm pregnant and -- ugh! Why can't my life just be simple!"  
"What happened after Halloween again?"  
"We started making out and were basically about to start doing it then Shawn popped into my head and I stopped before anything could happen. But then he told me he still loved me. Trishy, do you know how long I've waited to hear that?"  
"So why do you think you heard Shawn's voice?"  
"I don't know. Either we weren't supposed to because he needed to tell me he still loved me or we weren't supposed to because of Shawn."  
Trish pulled into a parking space at the mall and turned to her best friend. "Do you love Shawn?"  
"I don't know."  
"Do you love John?"  
"Yes, but I don't see where--"  
"Stop, Maria. What did you just say. Think."  
"Damn."  
"Damn is right. Do you want to be with Shawn?"  
"I don't know. And before you ask me about John, the only reason I don't know is because I've been with John for three years and with Shawn for only two months. I don't know him well enough to know that I want to be with him."  
"Well then your lunch with him today could've helped you decide that." Trish replied before stepping out of the car. "C'mon, I'm hungry."  
"Where are we?"  
"At the mall. They have a great food court now get your pregnant butt out of this car because I know you're hungry too."  
"Fine but keep your voice down. People aren't supposed to know."  
"Then hurry up. I didn't eat breakfast."  
"So you and Dave are okay now?"  
"More than okay. I love him so much, Ri!"  
"Have you talked with him today?"  
"No I woke up this morning. He texted me saying he had to do some stuff."  
"That's weird. So did John." Maia stated as the two walked into the mall.  
"Where do you want to eat?" Trish asked as they looked around at the food court.  
"Ooh pizza looks good."  
"We had pizza last night."  
"Fine. Ooh maybe a cheeseburger."  
"Okay." Maria and Trish walked over and stood in line to get burgers.  
"Oh and John asked me which time it was."  
"Which time what was?"  
"Which time I got pregnant."  
"Awkward, eh?"  
"Completely! I do know but I don't want to discuss that with him."  
"Do you think he knows?"  
"I don't know. But let's talk about something else."  
"Alright. Uhm..."  
"How long have you and Dave been dating now?"  
"Five months." Trish smiled and took her burger from the attendant.  
"That's so great!"  
"Yeah."  
"So what are you doing for Thanksgiving?"  
"Nothing."  
"Why?" Maria asked confused.  
"I'm from Canada, silly! We don't care about when America was founded."  
"Right! I always forget that you're a foreigner."  
"It's Canada not like Zimbabwe or whatever."  
"Yeah, I know. Where's Zimbabwe?"  
"In Africa. I read about it and it's fun to say!"  
"It is!" Maria agreed as she sat down at an open table and Trish joined her.  
"So what are you doing for Thanksgiving?"  
"I don't know. John's mom called him when we were in the car and she wants me there. He never told her that we broke up or that I'm pregnant. My parents don't know either. I don't know how I'm going to tell them."  
"Just tell them. You said before that John's family loves you so that should be fine."  
"Yeah but my family doesn't like John. Mainly just my dad, but his opinion still means a lot to me."  
"Daddy's girl." Trish teased before biting into her cheeseburger.  
"So what. I like my father."  
"You and you alone."  
"Not true."  
"Whatever. These burgers are bangin!"  
"Dave rubbing off on you? I've never heard you say bangin before."  
"I guess. I don't care." Trish smiled and looked down as her phone rang.  
"Hello... Hey John... Yeah Maria's with me... Her and Shawn got into a fight so yeah... Mhmm... If I decide to give her back, then maybe... Haha. Alright... Okay, talk to you later. Bye."  
"What did he want?"  
"Maria you really should be nicer to him. He's just trying to make you happy."  
"I know. It's just hard when he annoys me."  
"He annoyed you since way before you guys started dating. You thought it was cute."  
"Yeah. That was when I liked him."  
"And now you love him."

"Yeah." Maria half-smiled.  
"You really need to pick one."  
"I know. I think I'm just waiting for fate to pick one for me."  
"Well fate sometimes sucks so pick one for yourself."  
"Help?"  
"Fine. Why are you with Shawn?"  
Maria paused slightly. Why _was_ she with Shawn? Seems like a simple question.  
"Why were you with John?"  
"Because I liked him."  
"And why are you with Shawn?"  
"Because I like him."  
"Okay. Why aren't you with John?"  
"Because he cheated on me."  
"Why are you with Shawn instead of no one or someone else?"  
"I don't know. I know he liked me and I... I guess I started to like him because I knew that I wouldn't get hurt."  
"Good. You're making progress. So why didn't you get back with John when you found out about... You know."  
"Because he cheated on me and broke my heart. And because I was with Shawn."  
"Are you happy with Shawn?"  
"Kind of. I feel so judged when I'm with him. Like he judged me because I'm pregnant and it makes me not want to spend time with him and I feel guilty."  
"Were you happy with John?"  
"Yes. The happiest I've ever been."  
"Do you miss John?"  
"Yes."  
"Have you been missing how things used to be in your relationship with John?"  
"Yes." Maria replied quietly.  
"Do you want to get back together with him?"  
"I don't know. You know, 'once a cheater, always a cheater'."  
"So the only thing stopping you and John from being together is Shawn and your fear of him breaking your heart again."  
"Damn. You're good."  
"I should charge." The two laughed.  
"Why are you even with Shawn?"  
"I'm starting like him a whole lot though and he's all like, 'I love you more than anything'. We've been dating for what, two months? And he doesn't want to be with out me."  
"That's kind of sweet though."  
"That's kind of _weird _though."  
"When did John say he loved you?"  
"After about four months, I think. And the first time he said it, it wasn't like, 'I never want to be with anyone else but you ever again'."  
"Shawn is a bit clingy."  
"Tell me about it."  
"Maybe if you wait it out he'll back off or get sick of you. I know I am."  
"Hey!" Trish laughed at her friend's reaction as she finished off her burger.  
"But he may just be so happy you guys are dating now. Once the honeymoon stage is over he'll be normal."  
"Maybe. So are you heading back to Canada before the next show?"  
"No. I'm going with Dave to D.C." Trish smiled brightly at the thought of her love.  
"Cute."  
"Are you going to Texas with Shawn, or with John to Tampa or your house in Miami?"  
"Maybe mine. I think my fish are dead though. I haven't been home in forever."  
"So what do you want to do?"  
"I don't know. What do you want to do?"  
"I kinda want to go back to the hotel and see Dave."  
"Alright. I think I'm going to shop. This place is huge and I need some more looser shirts."  
"How will you get home?"  
"I'll make up with one of my men. It'll be fine. Go see lover boy."  
"Alright," Trish said standing up and slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Remember what we talked about though. You need to pick one and to see if you really want to be with Shawn."  
"Yeah. I know."  
"And if you need to talk, just call me and I can help."  
"Alright, Hun. Same goes for you." Maria said standing up and grabbing her purse and picking up her tray and forced the remnants of her lunch into the can.  
"Talk to you later." Trish said before turning around and walking toward the door.  
Maria walked around, stopping at a few stores to look at some things but she felt weird having to get the next size up. She walked into Forever 21 and looked around. Spotting a floral baby doll top, Maria grabbed one in her size and one in the next size up and slipped into the dressing room. She tried on the shirt and as she was examining the look of the article of clothing, her phone rang. Without looking who the caller was, she received the call.  
"Hello?" Maria greeted, trying to see all angles of the shirt she was considering buying.  
"Good. You're alright."  
"Yes John. I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself."  
"I know that, Ri, but Shawn called like half an hour ago making it seem like you died. I knew you didn't but I was just making sure."  
"Alright. Thank you but I'm fine."  
"Where are you? I'll come get you and we can get some lunch."  
"Already ate with Trish. Sorry."  
"Okay. Well what are you doing now?"  
"I'm trying on a shirt and I still don't know if I like it."  
"What's it look like?"  
"It's a black baby doll top with a cross-back and spaghetti straps and a big red rose in sequins on it."  
"Yeah. No idea what the hell a baby doll top is."  
"You haven't changed one bit, Johnny." Maria commented twisting and turning his body to make sure that she liked she shirt. "I think I'm going to get it."  
"Okay. Then when you get back you can model it for me."  
"Maybe." Maria replied, not hearing what John was saying.  
"Alright!"  
"Alright what?"  
"Never mind."  
"Okay. I think I'm going to go back home to tomorrow before we get back on the road."  
"How are you going to get there."  
"Airplane."  
"Why don't you just come back to my home. I don't really want you alone in case anything happens."  
"John, I'm a grown woman. I can be by myself for a few days, you know. Besides, I need to feed my fish and do some other house stuff."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes John."  
"Then let me go with you. You can run some errands and do whatever then we go back to my place."  
"I don't know, John."  
"It's no problem."  
"I'm sure it's not."  
"Whatever. When are you going to be back?"  
"Actually could you come pick me up? Trish went to hang with Dave and I don't have a ride."  
"Ugh." John whined.  
"Pleeeease?" Maria pleaded.  
"Do I have a choice?"  
"Of course not, silly!"  
"Alright. I'm leaving now. Where's the mall?"  
"On 24th street. I'm just gonna buy this shirt then I'll meet you on the curb."  
"Okay be there in like 15 minutes."  
"See ya then."  
"Bye." Maria hung up the phone and changed back into her clothes. She walked up to the counter and purchased the shirt, also one in the next size up so she could still wear the shirt when her stomach got bigger and after she had her baby. Maria walked out of Forever 21 and to the exit of the mall. She proceeded onto the curb where John was waiting.  
"Hey." John greeted, thankful that there was no awkwardness between the two after their quarrel earlier.  
Maria shoved herself into the warm car and away from the cold November air. Placing her bags and her purse on the floor next to her feet, she buckled her seatbelt as John sped off to the hotel.  
"So what do you think about my parents house for Thanksgiving?"  
"Probably but I have to talk to Shawn."  
"Where is he now?" John asked, seeming to have a purpose.  
"I don't know."  
"Exactly." Maria heard John mumble before turning on the radio.  
"My parents are probably going to call about Christmas, too."  
"I figured. What do you want to do about that?"  
"I don't know. I do need to talk with Shawn about this but I'm going to say probably. Would it be okay if we went to my parents house for Christmas again? Would you want to?"  
"Yeah. I just really hope your dad doesn't threaten me with his gun again."  
"That was only once."  
"That you know of. Every time we go visit, he calls me down and is cleaning his gun. He makes me sit down and he gives me the same talk. In a nut shell, he said I had to marry you before anything happened. So I'm a dead man."  
"Did he really?"  
"Ri, I don't lie."  
"Yes you do."  
"What? Oh, well I don't like to lie."  
"I thought it was one of your favorite hobbies."  
"Not even close." _Fucking you senseless is, though,_ John continued in his head.  
"Okay. Then where were you this morning."  
"I went to the gym. Met up with Dave got breakfast then went to see Rey to give him his sunglasses back then went to do some other stuff."  
"What kind of other stuff."  
"Can't tell you."  
"Why not?" Maria huffed.  
"It's a secret."  
"What kind of secret?"  
"A _secret_ secret."  
"Why can't you tell me?"  
"Because it's a surprise."  
"So I'm going to find out eventually."  
"Yes."  
"When?"  
"Soon enough."  
"Fine. So want to get something to eat? I'm so hungry!"  
"Didn't you just eat with Trish?"  
"Your point?"  
"Never mind." John turned the radio station to hip hop and Maria groaned.  
"Do we have to listen to this?"  
"Yes. I don't ever get to listen to the radio anymore."  
"Alright. Where do you want to eat?"  
"I sort of want some sushi."  
Maria started panting. "Ria, you okay?" John asked, nothing the sickly look on her face."  
"Pull over!" She ordered, clamping a hand over her mouth. John pulled to the side of the road and Maria flung the car door open while unbuckling her seatbelt and spewing what she just ate all over the pavement. She felt John's hand rub her back as she grabbed a napkin from the glove compartment and wiped her mouth. After making sure none of it got on her clothes, she sighed back into the car and buckled up before reaching into her purse for a piece of gum. As she closed the door, Maria told him, "No seafood."  
"Alright. How's about we get us some barbecue." John suggested in a southern accent."  
Maria laughed and nodded her head yes.

John pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant that he had spotted on his way over to pick up Maria. They both got out and headed inside. They walked up to the counter and a teenage boy with an acne covered face named Tom was the cashier and said, "Hello what can I get you?"  
Maria studied the menu before replying, "I'll have the pulled pork and a side of corn nuggets."  
"I'll have the same." Said John.  
"That'll be $19.52. It'll be ready in about five minutes."  
"Thank you." Maria smiled and followed John to a table next to the wall. She sat down and leaned her back against the wall as John sat next to her. He rested his arm across the back of her chair and his other arm on her thigh.  
"John." Maria scolded him. This was the exact thing Shawn was talking about.  
"Maria." John said in the same tone as he began to run his hand up and down her leg.  
"Stop. This is getting ridiculous."  
"Maria," John leaned in and rested his forehead lazily on hers to whisper. "What if a fan walks in and we're not even acting like a couple, they'll think something's off. I don't want to get in trouble with Vince."  
"You keep using that excuse."  
"It's a good one, no?" John asked as a smile spread across his face and he went to lean into to kiss her cheek. He wanted to kiss her on the lips but that would've made her angry and he didn't want that. He settled for the cheek. Maria smiled slightly and stood up to go to the bathroom. John sighed and looked around at the decor of the dive. The walls were covered in weathered signs and drag racing memorabilia. The cashier brought the food out and John put sauce on his and quickly dug in.  
Maria returned and began to eat. After biting into her sandwich she moans quietly. "Mmm. This really hits the spot."  
"Yeah. Not as good as my Ma's though."  
"That's true." Maria agreed. "That was the best barbeque I've ever had, next to J.R.'s." The two finished and John drove them back to the hotel.  
"I'll be back in a bit. Do you need anything?" John asked, changing  
into workout gear.  
"Where are you going?" Maria asked confused.  
"To the gym again. Want me to get you anything?"  
"Uhm... Peanut Butter."  
"Chunky or smooth?"  
"Smooth." Maria said standing up.  
"Anything else?"  
"Nope but if I think of anything I'll let you know."  
"Alright. See ya in a bit." John said as he wrapped his arms around Maria tightly and dipped his head down and kissed her neck lightly and then brushed his lips up her neck and kissed her cheek. Maria returned his hug as John's hands rubbed up and down her back, which she had arched into him. He let go and grabbed his bag and left.  
Maria felt on fire and felt a pang of pleasure course through her body. There was no way she would let anything happen with John and just as her thoughts grew wilder, her phone sang the DX ringtone. She decided to pick it up.  
"Hey." She greeted quietly, feeling guilty for her previous thoughts.  
"I see you decided to pick up this time. I've been trying to reach you all day."  
"Well, I'm here now. What did you want to talk about?"  
"Would you want to come to my room. I don't wanna talk about this over the phone."  
"Fine. 542 right?"  
"Yeah."  
"Be there soon." Maria said goodbye before grabbing the room key and leaving. What was she going to say to him? She had no idea. She didn't even know if she wanted to be with him. Or John. Sooner than she wanted, she arrived at his door and lightly knocked. He opened quickly, expecting her there and swiftly led her in.  
"What did you want to talk about?"  
"Maria, about today. I didn't mean it as you were cheating on me because with what John did, I know you would never do that. I just meant that I feel like..." Shawn paused to gather his thoughts. "Well I feel like you still want to be with him."  
"Shawn! How could you think that?!" Maria lied.

"I know. I feel stupid for feeling like that but it's just the way you were acting."  
"I'm sorry." Maria said sheepishly. But what Shawn didn't know was that Maria was apologizing for everything. She was apologizing for kissing John on Halloween, when she told him she was pregnant, and for the movie night where she was hanging on John and slept in his bed and especially for what she just felt not even five minutes ago. "I was acting weird and childish. I'm sorry."  
Shawn walked toward her and kissed her. Maria moaned, her nerves were still on fire and she grew cold as Shawn's hands burned her wherever they touched her. The feelings John stirred in her grew as Shawn's lips moved with hers. He broke the kiss and Maria looked at him with want. He led her to the bed after pulling his shirt off where they remained for the next few hours.

A/N: So thank you everyone! I am continuing to write as stated in my profile. So I have just a few messages to some readers.  
Love Pearl: I would answer your pm but you have it disabled! So no hard feelings!  
jarialicious: as I said before thank you for the compliment and I look forward to taking over the story. :)  
Thank you!  
Also, let me know if I should rewrite the first chapters! And look forward to more updates. Thanks! Happy Wrestlemania!


	19. The Morning After

**A/N: Heads up: I began to rewrite the story in my words. I did keep a few things the same but my inspiration was watching Maria on Celebrity Apprentice and her new CD, Seven Sins, which I bought on iTunes. I rewrote the first two and am working on the third, plus this one, and a new story called The Ruse (read it) and the next updates for PPV Nights. Here we go with Chapter 19!**

Maria woke up the next morning with a bright smile. She looked over to see Shawn sleeping peacefully. Her smile, somehow, got brighter as she thought about last night.

Last night was her and Shawn's first time together. Even though Shawn may be a bit older than her, he was in no way lacking. Maria stretched and stepped out of bed before she found her clothes in a pile on the floor and got dressed.

"Where are you going?" A voice asked her. She looked back to see Shawn propped up on his elbow, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

Maria replied, "I'm just getting dressed."

"Oh." But now that Maria thought about it, she should get back to John. He didn't know where she was last night.

"I probably should get back to my room though," Maria said walking over to the bed and laying down next to Shawn. She moved her head in to kiss him.

"I feel used." Shawn said through the kiss and Maria kissed him deeper.

"Don't." Maria told him. "I love you. I just have to go."

Shawn smiled. "I love you too." He kissed her on the lips and she left the room.

.:.

Maria snuck back into her room, not wanting to signal her arrival. At the sound of the shower and John's rapping to _Basic Thuganomics_, she felt she was safe.

John's rapping became clearer as the shower turned off. Maria giggled as he rapped to the shower head.

_When I'm fightin' or spittin', My discipline is unforgivin'_

_Got you backin' up in the defensive position._

_An ass-kickin' anthem, heavyweight or bantam_

_Hold cats for ransom, A microphone phantom_

_Teams hit the floor, this is the new fight joint_

_Like a broken needle, kid, you missin' the point._

_We dominate your conference with offense_

_That's no nonsense._

_My theme song hits, get your reinforcements._

_We strike quick with hard kicks, duckin' night sticks._

_Bare knuckle makes you fight this, beat you lifeless_

_Never survive this. You're forgot like Alzheimer's._

_Two faced rappers walk away with four shiners_

_The war rhymer, turning legends to old timers._

_My incisors is like a viper biting through your one-liners._

_New Deadman Inc., and we about to make you famous._

_Takin' over Earth and still kick ya in Uranus._

John then walked out of the bathroom with a white terrycloth towel wrapped around his waist. Maria stared at his glistening, chiseled body before walking over to him. John saw her and gave her a big hug and he kissed her head. Maria looked up and said, questioningly, "So… you think you're untouchable?"

John answered with a smile, "Word Life." They laughed together, a harmonized combination of a bass chuckle and a soprano giggle.

John kissed her cheek before he went to his suitcase and got out his boxers. He then disappeared into the bathroom again before emerging shortly after. Maria then took his place and showered. She came out and got her clothes to see John sprawled on the couch watching a Patriots game. She grinned before going into the bathroom to get dressed. Maria walked out in gray yoga pants and a loose plain black v-neck t-shirt. Maria blow dried her hair and went out and sat next to John, who immediately pulled her closer with his arm around her shoulders.

Maria nuzzled her head in his side and John kissed the top of her head.

"What's the score?" The red-head asked, breaking the all too still silence.

"Eagles: 6, Pats: 0."

"Ah, so you're angry."

"Very." He chuckled darkly. Maria remembered that he hated the Eagles. His Pats would come back… he just knew it. Dang! A commercial.

Maria made herself more comfortable at his side, her arm wrapping underneath his back so it rested on his other side and curling her legs up so they lay against his thigh. John began to stroke her hair.

"Maria?"  
"Yes, John?"  
"I love you."

Maria didn't respond. She just looked up at him and stared into his oceanic eyes, a chill threatening to roll down her spine. She tucked her head back into his side.

Maria felt guilty. She slept with Shawn. John had no idea. When he saw her, and a smile lit up his whole face. God, it was heart breaking.

The only things that comforted her was knowing that she wasn't still dating

John. Shawn was her boyfriend. It wasn't wrong of her to have sex with him.

But she still felt like she cheated on John. She still loved him, and she never wanted to hurt him, even though he hurt her.

Trish was right. Why was she with Shawn? She wasn't sure why she loved him.

What kept eating up her insides was that John had erupted the feeling in her the put her in the mood last night. His body pressed up against hers. The way his hands slid over her back. His lips on her neck and her cheek. Maria wanted his lips on hers, but she couldn't do that. The way he smelled. He smelled just like he did when they were dating.

But it was Shawn's kiss that sent her over the edge. The raw feeling that his lips were emitting bubbled up Maria's stomach.

Maria was taking out of her thoughts as John asked, "Did you, Ria?"

"Did I what? I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention."

"Did you talk to Shawn about Thanksgiving?"

"Oh. No, I didn't. Do you want me to call him now?"

"Sure. I just need to know. My ma called me last night and asked again."

"Alright." Maria stood up and found her phone in her purse. She pressed speed dial number two.

"Hey, babe."

"Hey."

"What's goin on?"

"Well I was wondering… uhm."

"Go ahead."

"Do you mind if I go to John's parent's house for Thanksgiving?"

"It sounds like you already made up your mind."

"It's just that we need to tell his parents about the baby."

"Well, I guess you have to then don't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Will you be with me for Christmas?"

"I can't then either. You see, John needs to come up with me to my parents house and tell them about the baby."

"Okay. Well why don't I come with you."

Maria didn't answer.

"So I guess you don't want me to."

"No, it's just that my parents don't even know that John and I broke up, let alone have a baby on the way. I don't want to pour too much information on them at once."  
"Or you could just get it all done at once. Let them know everything."

"I... I don't know, Shawn. I'd have to think about it."

"Alright. Well I was about to get in the shower, I'll talk to you later."

"See ya."

"I love you."

"You, too."

Maria slightly jumped as she felt arms wrap around her waist. She snapped her phone shut as she turned around to face John.

"What did he say?"

"He said yes to Thanksgiving."

"What about Christmas?"

"That's… a different story."

"What happened?"

"I don't even really know."

"Well, talk to me about it. We'll figure it out."

"Okay. He wants to come to my parents' house for Christmas with you."

"Why? Don't you want him to?"

"Yes, but we need to tell them about the baby. I'd rather tell them about the baby and our breakup and then tell them about Shawn. I think everything would be too much for them."

"You know what would settle this whole problem?"

"What?"

"If we got back together."

Maria stared up at him, with her arms wrapped loosely around his neck. She knew he wasn't kidding.

The worst part was, is that he was right.

It would solve everything.

.:.

**A/N: So I know that it's been a little while since I last updated. I just couldn't keep you waiting. I was intentionally making this a longer chapter, but I wanted to get it posted. So here you have it! Next Chapter: Monday Night Raw and Survivor Series.**

**Thank you all!**


	20. Flipped Out

**Hey everybody! I know it's been awhile since my last update so here we are:**

Chapter 20

Monday Night Raw was here and Maria was stuck in the Women's locker room trying to memorize her lines.

"Urgh!" She exclaimed as she once again looked at her script for the night.

"You alright?" Maria looked up to see a quirked Candice Michelle.

"Yeah. I'm just trying to memorize my lines. But all I can think of is my baby."  
"Well, that's understandable."

"I guess. I just really need to memorize my lines."

Maria glared at the door as a rush of Divas flooded into the locker room.

"I'm gonna find a quieter place to practice." Maria told Candice as she got up in search of a lonesome area to memorize her lines.

As Maria wandered the halls, she thought of how she used to memorize her lines. She would get a chance to look at them and John would hold them as she practiced. If she got it right, she was rewarded with a kiss; if she messed up, she got a little spank. With this tactic, the night normally ended with the two wrapped up in the sheets. Needless to say, Maria always had her lines memorized.

But now, she couldn't even think let alone_ memorize_. She found a quiet corner down a hallway. The red-head pulled out her script and began to practice what she would have to say in just a few hours.

"Hey, John." Maria read, without any emotion. She just wanted to get the lines down; she'd work on 'feeling it' later. "_Hey there, Maria." _She mimicked the Champ's deep voice. "_How you doin', darlin?_ Actually not so good… Blah blah blah. Alright." Maria hid her script behind her back.

Just as she was about to begin, a voice called to her from down the corridor.

"Maria."

Maria smiled as she met the steely grey eyes and walked toward them at the end of the hallway.

John Cena was just peachy. He was ready for tonight. He got to kiss Maria. He had a match with Edge. He got to kiss Maria. Survivor Series was just six days away where he would become champion again. And he got to kiss Maria.

The last time they had kissed was… Halloween? He couldn't even remember. Which was way too long in his opinion.

Cena walked to catering room and grabbed himself a plate full of food and dug in. He groaned as the tender, savory steak practically melted in his mouth. After a few more large bites, he noticed a small group of Divas enter, Mickie included. When he saw her eyes reach his, he quickly decided to finish up and make like a tree and get out of there.

John shoved the rest of the steak in his mouth and chugged the rest of his water while Mickie looked around for a seat. Still chewing, he fled the canteen and briskly walked back to his locker room.

On his way, he spotted Maria hugging someone. John choked on his steak when he got a glimpse of his face… No… It couldn't be…

Later that night, Maria met up with John to go over there scene.

"Hey." John greeted her with a hug. Maria returned the embrace as John pressed his lips to her temple.

"Ready to go?" Maria asked with a smile.

"Yeah." John repressed the anger he was feeling toward what he saw earlier.

The kayfabe couple readied themselves as they prepared to practice their scene.

"Hey, John." Maria feigned sickness in her voice.

"Hey there, Maria. How you doin', darlin'?" John asked after he walked up to her. He slid his hand up to brush her hair out of her face.

"Actually not so good."

"Babe, what's wrong?"

"… My uh… Urgh!" Maria grunted in anger and disappointment as she pulled out her script. She couldn't remember her line. "My stomach is really upset. I think I'm going to throw up." Maria recited from the paper in front of her.

"You gonna be alright to come out with me to my match later?"

"I don't think so, John." She noted how his dimpled-smiled faded. "I'm really sorry. I… I… Ugh! Not again." Maria whipped out her script again. John pulled the script away as Maria looked at him with a quirked brow.

"Maria," John said to her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, "Baby, you need to calm down alright. We're gonna be doin' this for real in less than an hour. You're gonna do great, but you need to concentrate." He stroked her cheek and she leaned into the touch. Feeling him so close to her… It made her feel safe. She knew he was right. She opened her eyes to find him boring into them. Maria shivered at the intense gaze. "I love you." Maria felt her heart swell at hearing this.

Right then, she realized that John did truly still love her. She didn't know why he cheated on her, but she didn't care. John loved her with all his heart, and he meant it. In that instant, Maria forgave him.

_Ring Ring!_

Maria looked at her phone. The caller ID stated Shawn with an emoticon heart next to it. She looked up to John to see his intense gaze gone but replaced by annoyance, clearly shown as his eyes rolled.

"Hey Maria." Shawn greeted.

"Hey Shawn." Maria greeted back monotonously.

"Whatcha up to?"

"Rehearsing my lines for tonight with John."

"Oh that's cool I was just—"

"Actually can I just call you back. I still don't have my lines memorized."  
"Uh. Sure. Talk to you later?"

"Sure." Maria didn't notice that his voice fell with disappointment as John detangled himself from her. Maria snapped her phone shut.

"John." Maria called to him on the bench across the room. She walked over to him since he didn't respond to her. "John?"

John sighed deeply before looking up at her. "Yes?"

Maria sat down next to him and held in his hand in both of hers. John looked at their hands and up at Maria.

"John, I know you love me—"

"_But._"

"No buts. I know you do. Except for what you did to me. I… I…"

"_Shit_, Maria!" John exclaimed jumping off the bench and rapidly swiping his hand away. "I _know_ I messed up. I live with that every day. Can't you just accept that I'm _not_ human? You know I love you and whether you know it or not, you love me too. Now all that's left for you to do is to leave Shawn and come back to me."

"I… John, I don't think I can do that."  
"Why the _fuck _not?" John roared through clenched teeth, clawing his hands at his face.

"Because what if you hurt me again. You think it's as simple as forgiveness? John, I lost _all_ my trust for you! _All of it!_ I don't know what—"

"What can I do to gain it back, 'cause, Maria… God, it's killing me."

"What is?" Maria asked with a small voice as she saw John trying to rip his cropped hairs out.

"Not _being_ with you. I fucking _love _you. You were _mine_. I fucked up and now I have to see you with your geriatric boyfriend everyday until _you_ come to your fucking senses and _realize _that _I_ am the one you need to be with! Not _him_!" The champ screamed through clenched teeth. He whipped around and banged his fists into the lockers, causing Maria to jump. "I have to go." John said into his arm before storming out of his locker room.

Later that night, Maria arrived at the scene where they were supposed to film the segment coming up, which was just outside the Women's locker room. Five minutes before the segment was supposed to be filmed, John was no where in sight.

"Maria, if he's not here soon, we can't air the segment."  
"I know. I'm sorry. He's not normally late." Maria sympathetically told the crewman. After a few more minutes, Maria thought her waiting was futile. She was proved wrong as John appeared in the hallway and jogged to the scene.

"Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time."

"It's fine. Get in position and we'll start shooting." The crew man told them.

John backed out of the camera shot and the camera zoomed in on a sickly Maria.

_John appeared into the shot and Maria greeted him, weakly, "Hey, John."_

"_Hey, Maria." John said with a smile as he pulled her in for a quick hug. "How you doin', darlin'?"_

"_Actually, not so good."_

"_Baby, what's wrong?" John asked as he brushed her hair behind her ear._

"_My, uhm…" Maria stuttered. John positioned her head so she was looking into his eyes. "My stomach is really upset. I feel like I'm going to throw up." As Maria looked into his eyes, not only did she remember her lines, but she felt safe and happy, especially after what happened that afternoon._

"_You gonna be alright to come out with me to my match later?"_

"_I don't think so, John." Maria started. John was still looking into her eyes, a fake hurt expression was present. His intense gaze caused the baby in her stomach to swoosh rapidly in its womb, causing Maria's to churn. She ignored the feeling. "I'm really sorry. I…" Maria clamped a hand over her mouth and rushed into the locker room. The camera man was confused but decided to zoom in on an equally confused looking John._

Maria pushed a few divas out of the way as she sprinted to the toilets and spewed into the porcelain. She felt a hand rub her back as her shoulders crept forward again. Maria flushed the toilet as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. She turned on her knees to see an expressionless Trish Stratus.

"Honey, no offense but I am so glad I'm not pregnant. It sounds painful."

Maria weakly smiled up at her friend. Trish stood up, grabbed Maria's hands, and pulled her up.

Maria jokingly glared at the blonde Canadian.

"Aren't you supposed to be filming your segment with John right about now."

"Actually, we were in the middle of filming it. I didn't want to puke on camera so I ran in here."

"Well, go! The camera might still be rolling." Trish pushed Maria out the door.

Maria stumbled out to see the cameraman and John talking.

"You alright, Ria?" John asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah."

"It stinks that you threw up, but honestly, your timing couldn't have been better."

"Well, I try." Maria joked. John tightened his grip on her shoulders as a smile appeared on his face.

"I gotta go, guys. Maria, I really hope you feel better."

"Thanks." Maria said with a smile.

"See ya later, man." John said with a wave to the friendly camera man.

When the videographer was out of sight, John turned to Maria.  
"You alright?"  
"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"The baby was moving around really fast. It made me feel sick."

"But you're alright, now?" John asked, moving his hands around her waist.  
"Yeah. I just wanna go wash my mouth out."

"Where's your toothbrush?"  
"In there." Maria nodded her head towards the Women's locker room.

"Why didn't you do that when you were in there before, silly."

"Be_cause_, Trish pushed me out of there because she thought they were still filming. She didn't want me to miss out. _Silly._" Maria taunted.

"Well, go." John lightly shoved her.

"I'm goin', I'm goin'."

Maria walked in and found her bag and rummaged through. After a little more searching, she found her lime green tooth brush and minty tooth paste. She went to the sink and brushed.

Out in the hall, John started thinking about the scene. He was supposed to kiss Maria before his match. That was ka-put since Maria's upchuck. It had been at least a month since he last kissed Maria, and that was 30 days too long. He was really looking forward to that tonight. Now all he had to look forward to was losing his match against Edge. He was scheduled to lose his match now, sensing that because Maria wasn't there, he would lose. But then at the Pay Per View, Maria would be there and he would win, despite the loss of momentum.

Maria emerged from the locker room with Trish following behind her.

"All better." Maria smiled.

"Good. Hey, Trish. What's good?"

"Have you seen Dave?" Trish asked.

"Yeah. He was in catering last I saw him."  
"Thanks."  
"No, problem, Blondie."

Maria gave John a hug.

"What was that for?"

"I just wanted a hug."

"Well then." John tightened the hug and spun Maria around. He set her down and Maria stared into his eyes.  
"You alright?" The red head questioned.  
"Yeah, fine. Why?"  
"You look sad, is all."

"Well I am a _little_ upset."

"Why is that?" Maria asked, her arms wrapping around his waist.  
"Because we were supposed to kiss tonight, and because the scene got altered, I didn't get to. Now I'm upset."  
"You've kissed me before." Maria pointed out.  
"Yeah, but the last time was almost a month ago. You know what that means?"

"What?"  
"I haven't kissed anyone in almost _30 days_."

"So?"

"That's like a new record or something. I don't like it."

"Aww. Poor Johnny."

"You know I hate it when you call me 'Johnny'."

"And I hate it when you make me feel guilty."

"So you feel guilty about not kissing me?"

"I didn't say that."

"So you don't?"

"I didn't say that either."

"So you do?" John asked very confused now.

"I'm gonna head back to the hotel. 'Night, _Johhny_."

John stared at her as she walked down the hallway, a slight waddle to her walk.

**A/N: So I know I said this chapter would be RAW and Survivor Series, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging! So here's RAW and I PROMISE next will be Survivor Series and **_**hint: there will be a kiss… maybe two. We'll see…**_

**PS: REVIEW!**


	21. New Eras, New Questions

Chapter 21

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Survivor Series began in just two hours and John Cena was excited beyond belief. Of course he had been champion before, but it was a new era. A new reign. He could already feel the weight of it on his shoulder. John wanted another spinner, but Creative was done with that. He was through with the spinning belt and spitting rhymes on RAW.

The belt wasn't the only thing John was excited for tonight. After his win, he got to kiss Maria. And not a little peck, but a big congratulatory kiss. John felt like a kid in high school waiting for his _first time_ on Senior Prom Night.

Wait! This is John Cena. Oh, but he has changed. He's changed ever since he bought that ring. He knew it was what Maria wanted. He didn't even know why he was cheating on Maria with Mickie, especially when he had the ring.

Mickie was just… different. She offered things that Maria couldn't give. Like… well John couldn't think of any right then but when Mickie offered, it seemed right. It seemed…true. John could've smacked himself for falling for this trap.

But when there's a woman in front of you wearing only a miniscule thong telling you what she can do for you, rubbing herself all up on you, you tend to think with your other head.

John was getting dressed for his match in his own private locker room. Just as he was about to put his shirt on, he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey there, Johnny boy."

.:.

Maria was curling her hair in the Diva's locker room when her best friend Trish walked in.

"Hello, gorgeous," Maria greeted her as she hair-sprayed a new curl.

"Hey, girlie. Excited for tonight?"

"Totally! I haven't been on a pay-per-view where I'm not interviewing in forever!" Maria exclaimed with her hair tangled up in the iron.

"How about that kiss with John?"

"Well, I know he's looking forward to it but—"

"Who would look forward to a kiss with you?" Trish and Maria's heads jolted towards the showers where Mickie James was wrapped up in a towel. "Your skanky ass probably can't even remember all the dicks your mouth has been on."

"Darlin, we don't look too much alike, so how can you confuse me with yourself?" Maria retorted.

"What ever do you mean?" Mickie asked with a sweet smile.

"No wonder you don't know what I'm talking about. You were probably too coked up to remember all of your sexcapades."

"At least I'm not too stupid to get pregnant."

"I got pregnant _once _with a guy I was dating for three years. Lord knows how many times your multiple pregnancies 'disappeared'."

"That never happened and you know it!"

"How _would_ I know it?" Maria asked tapping her chin. "Oh, right, guys brag about how they fucked you. But why would they? You're just some loose skank who can't keep her legs together."

"But—"  
"Probably got a few diseases, too." Trish chimed in.

"Sweetheart if you really wanna get beat up by a pregnant lady, you can stay. But I suggest you leave." Maria sniped at the dumbfounded Mickie.

"_Now_." Trish backed her up. Mickie left with her head hung low.

"We're a good team." Maria smiled.

"We are." Trish laughed. "Did you see her face? I don't think she knew that you knew about all of her pregnancies."

"She really was pregnant?"

"I think so. I hate to say it but I think she got an abortion."

"That's horrible. No one deserves that."

"I agree."  
"I feel a little bad now." Maria sat down on the bench as tears formed in her eyes.

"Maria, don't feel bad. She's the reason you and John aren't together right now. She's the reason that you don't have a ring on that finger right now. She's the reason—"

"What do you mean?"  
"What do I mean about what?"  
"That I don't have a ring on my finger. What do you mean?"

"Oh…" _Shit,_ Trish thought. She forgot Maria didn't know about the ring John had for Maria. The one he bought when they were dating. John had told Dave and Dave told her. She didn't know what to say but she had to make something up quick. "I just figured. I mean, you guys were in love and I figured he was going to ask you. I mean, why wouldn't he, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Of course he would've."  
"Mickie's also the reason I'm with Shawn." Maria glumly stated.

"Why don't you sound happy when you say that?"

"Because you're right."  
"How?"  
"If it wasn't for Mickie, I'd still be with John. Hell, we might even be engaged. My baby would have his or her rightful dad. I wouldn't even be in this mess. I wouldn't have slept with Shawn. I—"

"Hold the phone! You slept with Shawn?"

"I thought I told you. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Trish consoled. "But _spill_!"

"What's there to say?"

"That bad?"  
"No not at all."

"Then _what?_"

"Well, it was after we had that fight where I met you at the mall. It was real late at night and we apologized and then… _whoop_."

"What do you mean _whoop?_" Trish asked with a giggle.  
"I don't know. It just happened."

"Was it good?"  
"Well… yeah."  
"Because that sounds convincing." Trish rolled her eyes.

"Okay… uhm. I need to tell you a secret. You can't tell anyone. Especially Dave."  
"Wait, can I tell Dave that you slept with Shawn?"  
"No! This entire conversation is a secret."  
"Fine." Trish groaned.

"Okay. Well, before I left to see Shawn, John was leaving and…"  
"You slept with him before you slept with Shawn?" Trish gaped.

"_No!_" Maria gasped. "God, I'm not a slut."

"Then what?"

"Well, I don't know. But let me tell _you_ something: Pregnancy lights your senses on fire."

"Why? What does that have to do with anything?" Trish was confused.

"Well, he gave me a huge bear hug and…"  
"And…?"  
"I don't know. He just… he felt so good on me. His hands were roaming my back and his lips were brushing my neck…"  
"Seems to me like he's a regular panty-dropper."

.:.

Fireworks illuminated the stage of Survivor Series as the pay-per-view aired to those at home and in the Blast Areas. (**A/N: **I feel an obligation to mention the Blast Areas since that's how I watch the ppvs.)

The night progressed on and the matches worked out perfectly. Now it was time for John's Championship match.

"This match is scheduled for one fall. The challenger, weighing in at 240 pounds, hailing from West Newbury, Massachusetts… John Cena. Accompanying him to the ring is Maria!"

John came from behind the gorilla onto the stage with Maria on his arm. Maria kissed him on the cheek and he saluted the crowd and ran down the ramp and slid into the ring. After hyping up the crowd, he went to open the ropes for Maria, who was walking up the steps after high-fiving the fans. When she slid into the widened ropes, John helped her in and they hugged each other as they waited for the match to get underway. Maria gave John a quick peck on the lips before sliding out to stand next to the apron on the floor.

"Next, weighing in at 250 pounds, hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the current WWE Champion: EDGE! And accompanying him to the ring, The Women's Champion, Lita!" The crowd erupted into boos and chants of "You suck." Edge smirked as he walked down to the ring holding Lita's hand and slid into the ring, Lita not far behind. He taunted Cena with his belt and the crowd. He jumped down from the ropes. And gave his belt to the referee and left his jacket on the side.

The referee held up the belt as Lita stepped out of the ring. John looked skeptically at Maria. She blew him a kiss in return. The crowd would've thought it was because he was nervous for his match. But two things were wrong with that assumption: 1) he was John Cena. He was never nervous. Plus he knew he was going to win. 2) He was actually nervous for Maria. This would probably be her last time on television before she left to keep her baby safe. He knew that this match was supposed to get a little crazy, even go outside the ring. Maria could easily get hurt, which could harm the baby. He sure as hell wasn't gonna let that happen. He just wasn't sure how he could prevent it.

The official signaled the bell and the match began. John and Edge circled each other, their hands immediately going for a lock up. John pushed Edge towards his corner, but Edge turned them around so he had John trapped. Edge went for a punch to the head but John countered it and swung around so he was in control. John began to throw hard punches to Edge's head and abdomen, before Irish shipping him to the opposite corner. Edge bounced off the turnbuckle and into John's vertical suplex. John went straight for the cover after the suplex was hit. 1.. and a kick-out by Edge. John got up and pulled Edge up by his hair. He threw him into the back right turnbuckle and executed a few rough body blows before Irish whipping him to the opposite turnbuckle and attempting a one-man stampede, but Edge got out of the way in the knick of time.

John faltered from the contact with the steel turnbuckle. Edge rebounded off of the ropes and hit John with a sloppily executed bulldog. With John reeling from the pain, Edge took his time getting up, only to find to and knee him in the stomach. John got up and got knocked back down with 1…2…3…4 blows to the head. Edge hooked John's right leg for the cover. 1… almost two and John Cena kicks out, as Jerry Lawler duly notes. John shocked Edge with a quick hit to the head. And another to the chest. Edge uses the ropes as support, but as he bounds back up from the rope's resiliency, john grabs his arm for the Irish whip in the opposite ropes, ready and waiting bent over. Edge counters with a kick to John's chest. John rolls in pain to the opposite side of the squared circle, and Edge, being the Ultimate Opportunist, duly noted by The King as well, baseball slides Cena out of the ring. John falls to the mat.

Edge points something out to the referee as Lita begins to kick John with her spiky heels. Maria yells and tries to point it out to him, but Edge has the official facing the crowd. Maria decides to take matters into her own hands and walks over to Lita and kicks her off of John. John shakes some sense back into his head, secretly hoping Maria is safe; one bad move, one mistake and she could lose the baby. John somehow musters himself up to the apron, and using the ropes as leverage, roughly hits Edge with his shoulder. Edge is taken aback so John uses the ropes once again to bounce up and rolls down Edge for the pin, trapping Edge's arms with his ankles. 1…2.. kick out! So close, noted by The King again. They both get up and John turns into a blow to the face, causing him to be knocked down.

John rolls over to a corner where Edge promptly digs his knee into John's abdomen. The referee counts the hold. 1…2…3…4.. So close to a DQ. But no dice. Edge backs up. Lifting his hands up to prove his innocence. John tries to regain balance to stand but Edge helps him as he grabs the bent over John and elbows him in the back of the neck. John turns around to kick Edge in the stomach. Another punch, John still in pain trying to weaken his opponent. Another punch. John goes to bounce off the ropes and hit Edge but Edge jumps up to roundhouse kick him in the face. Edge goes for the cover. 1…2.. so close, once again! Edge pounds his fist to the mat in annoyance as he stands up, heads to his corner, and waits for John to stand up so he can perform the famous Spear. Maria yells for John to look out, and points to Edge. John gives her a wink of encouragement.

As Edge turns around he is faced with a standing John Cena and immediately brought in the Fireman's Carry, the one that leads to the devastating F-U (**A/N:** I refuse to call it the Attitude Adjustment. It angers me that RAW, NXT, and Smackdown are now rated the same as SpongeBob. No dissing SpongeBob, in fact I love the show but wrestling… talking sponge who wears square pants… _so _not in the same league. Moving on). Edge shimmies out of it and grabs John's leg and rolls him up for the pin. 1…2.. John kicks out once more, much to Edge's disappointment. They both get back to their feet, but Edge kick's John's face and he falls to the mat, clutching his jaw. Edge goes to John and applies and arm-bar sleeper hold, constricting air to John's head. John slowly gets back to a vertical stance as he peels Edge's arm off his neck like it's tainted with cooties and quickly applies the STFU. (**A/N:** Same with that move. What the heck does STF stand for anyway? Shut the Fuck? Yeah that makes sense… Silly writers). Edge swiftly gets to the ropes and John releases the hold, not wanting to be disqualified. Edge gets up speedily and John bounds off the ropes, hoping to contact Edge. He does make contact, but not in the way he wants as Edge hits him with a hard elbow to the face. John falls to the mat in pain. Edge went for _another_ cover, noted by, you guessed it… Michael Cole (**gotcha :p**). 1…2.. and a kick out.

Edge grabbed John up and punched him in the face. John stood strong, or as strong as he could. Another punch and John is still up. As Edge went for another, John kicked him in the stomach and went behind Edge for the ropes and gave Edge a facebuster from behind. John landed awkwardly and both men were down. The ref began the count. 1…2…3…4…5…6… The two wrestlers were using the ropes to help the up. 7…8… They were finally up, way too close to the ten count. John ran at Edge, performing the running clotheslines after dodging a standing clothesline by Edge, just because the standing ones aren't as cool as the running ones. John had enough with the clotheslines and went for a suplex, slamming Edge on his back. John lifted his hand up and, with the crowd yelled, "You can't see me!" He rebounded off the ropes and his fist slammed into Edge's forehead to complete the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Well… that was the plan anyway.

As John went for the ropes, Edge got up and went to attach John, but John opened up the ropes and gave Edge a face-full of floor. John walked over but the ref back him up, wanting to make sure Edge was alright. John tried to explain himself but the ref kept asserting. Maria decided to help by digging her high heel into Edge's side. She slapped his face before walking back to her rightful side of the turnbuckle.

The ref got back to check on Edge and began the 10-count. 1…2…3… John decided to be sly and roll out the side. He walked over to Edge and banged Edge's head into the Spanish Announce Table, and then again on the steel steps. Maria cheered him on with a smile. …7…8… John threw Edge back into the ring and quickly followed suit. The match was still underway. Edge hit John with a vicious clothesline, sending John to the mat. Edge went to the opposite corner, setting up the Spear. Edge charged after John but John deferred the attack. Edge turned around to a kick in the stomach, followed shortly after by the set-up for the F-U. John executed the move with a cover trailing behind. 1…2… Kick out! It was so close to three! Edge tried to get up but John pulled him into the middle of the ring, perfectly executing the STFU. Edge with no where to go, trapped with the strain on his back and neck, tapped out!

"And the winner, by submission, your NEW WWE CHAMPION: JOHN CENA!" John released his hold and Edge rolled out of the ring. John's hand was help up in victory. Maria slid into the ring and gave John a big hug. She held his other hand up in glory. John pulled her into another embrace. He spun her around. John leant his head down and Maria perched on her tippy toes and their lips touched just briefly before Maria yelled, "John watch out!"

John turned, releasing his left arm on Maria, but his right arm was still wrapped tightly on her waist. But it was too late. Randy Orton barged the WWE Championship into Maria's head. John just caught her as her body fell to the mat. Randy dropped the Championship next to them and left the ring.

"It looks like Randy's collarbone is healed." The King pointed out as the screen faded to black.

**A/N: **Sorry guys. I wanted a _little _cliffhanger (:

_Meanwhile… Somewhere else in the building…_

"Candice… what are you doing?" Shawn asked as the Candy-coated Diva walked a sultry walk towards an ever confused Heart Break Kid.

"Shh.." Candice placed her finger on Shawn's lips. She replaced her finger with her lips and skillfully maneuvered her tongue into Shawn's mouth.

**A/N: So we have a little cliffhanger and a big one! (: (Imagine that guy with the great deep movie voice questioning you with all these cliffhanger questions) *GO!***

**What will Shawn do? (idk… teehee) Why did Randy Orton attack Maria with the belt? (idk…taahaa (I tried to change it…)) Who was at John's door (remember that? It happened all the way at the beginning of the chapter)? (idk… oh wait, **_**I**_** know. You don't. silly Jackie!) Will John be satisfied with the sorry excuse for a kiss he shared with Maria after his big win? (no) Did Mickie really have an abortion (sad)? Did I really make that match up by myself? (no, I used youtube then improved a little) Will Trish find Dave? (idk… that wasn't really important to the story… hm.) Will you review? (you better!)**

**Have fun! Live. Laugh. Love. Read. Review. Enjoy.**

**Loooove, Jackie!**


	22. The Master Bater

Maria woke up; her hazed vision from the unconsciousness began to clear as she blinked the grogginess away.

"Where am I?" She groaned aloud as she scanned the room for an answer to her own question.

She was on a black bed, of sorts. There was a counter with band-aids, wraps, pre-wrap, muscle relief, rubber gloves, and other items of the sort lined up along the back. The walls were a stark white brick and were rather bland in Maria's humble opinion.

She was in the trainer's room.

She sat up and looked with clearer eyes to see if anyone was there. Maria saw the trainer enter, his eyes focused on a stack of papers in his hand.

"I see you've finally awoken, Ms. Kanellis. How are you feeling?"

Maria had to think. "Fine. My head hurts a bit, though."

"Do you remember why?"  
"Yes, Randy hit me in the head with the belt."

"Good. How is your baby? Is it still moving?"

Maria had actually forgotten she was pregnant with the recent events taken into consideration. If the doctor's question wasn't enough, she felt the soft kicks and light swooshing in her womb to remind her of a cute little baby boy or girl on the way.

"Yeah, it's moving."

"When is your next OB-GYN appointment?"  
"The 29th."  
"Of November, correct?"  
"Yep."

"Since today is the twenty third, I would say that is just the maximum amount of time you could wait to get this checked out. I don't want you wrestling or going out to the ring. Creative did this so you could be out on an 'injury' without threatening too much harm to the fetus. I didn't think that was too smart—almost injuring your brain—but it's better than a kick to the stomach."  
The trainer laughed lightly; a grim, uncomfortable smile appeared on Maria's face in response.

"I want you to take it very easy, especially until your appointment. No heavy lifting, no strenuous activity, no running, and to be safe, don't lie on your stomach. Just get lots of rest. Thankfully you hadn't gotten a concussion or things could have been much worse."

"Alright, thanks."  
"No problem, Ms. Kanellis."

Maria went to bring herself off the cushioned table before the trainer asked, "By the way, who are you spending the holiday with?"

"With John. Over Thanksgiving, we're going to tell his parents about the baby and then over Christmas, we're going to tell mine."

"Alright, if you see John, tell him to come see me. I—"

There was a knock on the door and a muffled voice asking, "Maria?" The door opened to reveal a distraught Randy Orton.

"Randy! Hey!" Maria gave him a big smile.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to knock you out, just sometimes I don't know my own strength. I hope you're alright and healthy and –Does she have a concussion?" Randy directed his rambling questions to the trainer. "Is she alright?"

"Calm down, Mr. Orton. Ms. Kanellis and her baby are just fine."  
A sigh of relief escaped Randy's lips, but it turned into a gasp as a certain realization hit. "You're pregnant?" His excitement turned to pity as he realized who the only possible father is and the fact that they aren't a couple anymore.

"Maria, let's go and talk somewhere."  
"Well you had actually interrupted the trainer here and I want to let him finish."  
"Well, Maria, just if you see John, tell him to come find me; I want to inform him of your condition and the terms I gave you."

"I sure will. Thanks for everything."

Randy and Maria left the trainer's room.

"So tell me about your pregnancy." Randy started out.

"Way to beat around the bush." Maria started with a giggle.

"Well, hey, I haven't been here for five months and this is the first I'm hearing of this. Tell me everything."

Maria told Randy everything; from John cheating on her, to their breakup, to the storyline, to her relationship with Shawn—to which Randy had to stifle a laugh and she responded with a glare—to Mickie and her friends beating her up, to her and John making out on Halloween, to John telling her he still loves her, to telling John about the baby, and to sex with Shawn—another laugh from Randy, he didn't try to stop this one.

"Wow. I missed a lot."

"Heck yes you did! And I missed you."

"Awe, that was corny."  
"You're one of my best friends and I've barely talked to you for, like, half a year. You can't blame me!"  
"True. And I missed you, too, Princess."  
"Let's go find John. I wanna get back to the hotel."  
"Alright. Let's go, Princess."  
"Randy?" Maria asked, rooting her feet in place.

"Yes, Princess?"  
"Will you carry me?"  
Randy gave her an incredulous look.

"My feet hurt! We've been walking around the arena and talking for over an hour. I'm tired and pregnant. Remember I'm carrying myself and another little human."

"Ugh. Guilt me into it. Fine. Piggy-back ok?"

"Yep!" Maria agreed with a smile and a giggle. Randy bent down in front of Maria and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and he lifted her up from there and grabbed her legs from under his arms.

"Thanks, Rands. You're a doll!" She giggled again.

As Randy walked her back to John's locker room, he asked her a question.

"So how can you stand not knowing what you're going to have? It would bother me so much if I was a chick."

"I don't know. I want to be surprised. John says he wants a girl because he grew up with all brothers."  
"Well what do you want?"

Maria twisted her lips in thought. "I don't know really. I don't really care. I'll love it with all my heart no matter what."

"Awe that's cute."

Maria slapped his pectoral. "Shut it. If you were a _chick_, you'd think the same thing."

"I probably would. But I still couldn't stand not knowing. The curiosity would kill me. Well, here we are. Shall we?"

Randy knocked on John's door but all she could think about was the gender of her baby.

"Hey John-Boy! Open up!" The door was unlocked so Randy stepped inside with Maria on his back without invitation.

Randy spotted John with a medium sized jewelry box which he promptly threw in his bag at their arrival. Maria hadn't seen this as she jumped down from Randy's back and went over to give John a hug.

"Hey, baby girl. How ya feelin'?"

"Fine. I talked with Randy for a bit and I'm just tired and my head hurts a bit. Oh! You need to talk to the trainer!"

"I already did. I ran into him when I went to go find you. He said you were with Randy."  
"Yep. I was."

"So what. You barely see me and don't even bother to say hi? I see how it is, John. I see how it is." Randy greeted his best friend.

"Hey man. How ya been?"

"I've been. You know how it is. It's good to be back on the road."

"Yeah."

"Ugh. Just man hug and let's go. I'm exhausted."

All three laughed and John and Randy man hugged.

They grabbed their bags and headed for the parking garage.

"Randy?" Maria asked with a cute smile.

"Yes, Princess." Randy answered.

"Will you carry me again?" Maria asked with puppy dog eyes.

"No! I already carried your pregnant ass around before. It's John-Boy's turn.

Maria looked to John with pleading eyes and a pout that he'd always found sexy, but hell would freeze over the day he'd admit to it.

"Please, Johnny-kins."

"Hmm… I'll be billing you later." He winked at her as he gave Randy the bags and picked Maria up by her hips and slid her around so her legs and arms were wrapped around him. She nuzzled her nose against his neck as John and Randy discussed Randy's return.

When they finally got to the car, Randy gave them their bags back and went to his car. John slid Maria around so they were face to face, forehead to forehead, and he backed her up so her butt was against the car.

"John, what are you doing?" Maria asked before yawning.

"Collecting my pay." He answered with a smirk. He leant in but Maria ducked her head so John's lips hit her nose.

"What you doing, baby girl?" John asked her with a quirked brow.

"Shawn." Maria answered groggily.

"What about him?"

"He could see." She whispered in his ear.

"So later?"

"Maybe." She answered with a smirk of her own as she slid off of her baby daddy and got into the passenger side.

John got into the driver's seat and started the car. The night was cold but in order to help him stay awake, John opened the front windows so the frigid air blew into his face. Maria was also awoken by the cold air. The car was silent, but not awkward. Both occupants were lost in thought; Maria about the sex of her baby, and John about sex with Maria.

What Randy had said was getting to Maria. It was starting to bother her—not knowing. How could she plan without knowing the sex? She had to find out.

_Maria is going to kiss me! Really kiss me! Finally. Maybe it'll lead to us doing more. Pregnancy is supposed to get chick horny so maybe I could get it in… If I pull out all the stops. Kiss her how she likes it, touch her in just the right places. It'll work. It has to work._ John thought to himself as he pulled into a parking spot and got their bags as Maria slowly made her way to the entrance. He caught up quickly and held his hand on the small of her back as they waited for the elevator. It dinged and the doors opened; they stepped inside.

Maria rested her head on John's chest as the elevator went up 1…2…3…4…5 floors and opened. They walked to their room and Maria opened it. John dropped the bags right by the door and Maria kicked off her shoes.

John walked over and picked her up under her arms and held her close, rubbing his hands on her sides, knowing exactly what he was doing. Maria turned her head in to face his neck and nuzzled her nose there. John set her down and turned her chin up to his face, he rested his forehead against hers again. Their noses brushed, then their lips, he kissed her lightly then pulled away slightly before her hand clamped to his neck and they kiss, their lips connecting and fitting perfectly together, moving in complete synchronization. John poked his tongue through and grazed her lips and she slid hers out farther and he sucked it into his mouth, causing her to moan. She slithered her tongue back into her mouth and climbed onto her bed.

John laid down next to her, attaching their lips again. John pulled her on top of him and his hands sat on her butt, squeezing it occasionally while her hands roamed his chest and abs.

But she pushed him off.

"What do ya say we get to bed, huh, Champ?" She told him with a sly smile as she got off him, quickly changed into one of his T-shirts and a pair of shorts and crawled into bed. John, who was ready to go, sat there in shock. He was all hot and bothered and ready to go and she pulled that? This girl was something else. She always kept him on the edge of his seat. No wonder he loved her so much. John stripped down to his boxers and crawled under the covers next to her.

"I love you, baby." He whispered in her ear as she mumbled something in response that he took for an "I love you, too."

.:.

"Candice," Shawn cajoled the sleeping diva next to him in his bed.

"Hmm?" She groaned. The Candy-coated diva didn't like to be awoken from her slumber like this.

"You need to leave." Shawn told her sternly.

"Awe, do I have to?" She whined as she rolled over and pulled the covers up to better cover her naked body.

"Yes."

"But, Shawn, don't you wanna go for round 4?"

"No. Rounds one, two, and three shouldn't have even happened."

"But—"

"No 'buts.' You need to leave. Right. Now."

"Ugh. Fine." Candice rolled out of bed and started to get dressed. She slipped up her dress when her eyes caught a glimpse of the Heart Break Kid. He sat on the bed with his legs straight out in front of him with a blank glare on his face. Candice slipped on her heels before she walked over to Shawn and said, "If you wanna do this again, give me a call, baby. Anytime." She kissed his lips, and she felt them soften slightly before she walked out of the room.

"Oh, no!" She gasped in fake horror, a devious smirk diffusing onto her lips, as she returned to her room and started to undress. "I've forgotten my panties!"

.:.

'_John…' Maria moaned in his ear as he was pounding her into the mattress, 'Uhh… Harder.' John grunted in response as he put more _umph_ into his thrusts. 'Aww yeah, baby… so close…' _

But instead of hearing Maria's moans of orgasm, he heard his phone blaring a dumb tone. He was dreaming, dreaming one of the best dreams he's ever had. John groaned in protest as he rolled over and grabbed his phone from the bed side table.

"What the fuck do you want?" He grumbled into the receiver as he scratched his stomach.

"Well good morning to you, too, John-Boy."

"Rands, what the fuck do you want at this hour?"

"John… it's ten thirty in the morning."

"Why did you call?" John asked, not acknowledging the time.

"Wanted to know if you wanted to work out and get some lunch?"

"Nah, man. I gotta head home today. I got the next few days off for Thanksgiving and then Maria's appointment."

"Oh… alright. Well give me a call later and we can catch up."  
"Sure, will do man."

"Alright. Talk to you later."  
John mumbled something in response before he hit the end button.

He had to pee.

John got up and went to the bathroom. He groaned as he noticed the very prominent tent in his boxers, courtesy of his dream. He tried to bend it down so he could relieve his bladder, but it was to no avail. There was only one way to settle this. John grabbed a handful of Maria's lotion and started to jerk off.

What has his world come to? He couldn't remember the last time he had to rub one out. What was he? Twelve? He swallowed his pride and he pumped his fist faster.

"Oh!"

John's head snapped to the door where he saw Maria's retreating frame from the doorway. His eyes caught to her ass in her very short shorts. Damn, he was such a perv.

.:.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Maria opened the door to her hotel room.

"Hey Trish!"

"Hey Ria! Ready to go?"

"Yep. Come on in. I need to double check and make sure I have everything and John's still packing."

"Because he was too busy to do it before?" Dave asked, chuckling. After Maria had found John in the bathroom, Trish had called so Maria decided to tell her, and Trish promptly told Dave. They all had a good laugh about it.

"Hey, baby, have you seen my toothbrush?" John walked out of the bed room to see the three people standing there trying to stifle their giggles.

"Yeah, John, I packed it with mine."

"Alright, thanks." He said whilst giving skeptical looks at Dave and Trish before walking into the bathroom. Trish hid her face in Dave's chest and was muffling her laughter and Dave used Trish's hair as a way to silence his own.

"You guys don't have to be so obvious!" Maria scolded them once John was gone.

"Well what do you expect? He's that fucking needy he can't keep it down for a bit? Or if he needs it that bad, he can't lock a door? Plus it makes him uncomfortable and his confused face is _hysterical_."

"Ri, are you ready?" John called from the bedroom.

"Yep. Are you?"

"Yes ma'm." He stepped out with his bag.

"Good, then let's leave. I don't wanna miss the flight." Trish stated.

Maria went to grab her bag from the couch when John stopped her.

"I got it." John insisted.

"No, it's fine. It's not that heavy." Maria pursued.

"The trainer said you can't do any heavy lifting. Ria, baby, I got this one."

"But you have your belt, too. It's too much to carry for you."

"I'll let Dave hold my belt. It'll give something to fantasize about." John stated a little louder so Dave and Trish could hear.

"We all know John has enough to fantasize about." Dave stated loudly to Trish; the two laughed vigorously. John looked at the two curiously.

"Fine. You can carry it." Maria pulled John's attention back to her.

"I wouldn't have let you carry it anyway." He told her before planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Oh, I would've made you." Maria said, following Trish and Dave out of the room and down the hall to the elevator.

"Is that a threat, Ms. Kanellis?" John asked as he stopped in front of the closed elevator doors.

"No, it's a promise Mr. Cena." Maria answered before walking into the waiting elevator. "Come on, Johnny, the elevator won't wait forever."

John stepped on before commenting, "Don't call me Johnny."

Maria was confused as she watched the numbers on the elevator drop. She always used to call John, "Johnny." He only stopped liking it since he and Mickie were over. She was about to question him about it when the elevator landed on the ground floor.

They all packed into the car after checking out and headed to the airport.

"Dave just stop. I'm a much better wrestler than you." John told him.

"You are not!" Dave retorted. John's ego was starting to get on his nerves a bit.

"Dave." Trish gave him a look that said _Let it go._

"But he started it!" Dave accused.

"Dave you and John are both really decent at wrestling," Trish started nudging Maria out of her thoughts for her next comment, "But we all know John's great at bating."

Dave and Maria understood what she meant and burst out laughing.

"What? What's funny? And what's _bating?_" Trish joined the laughter while John sat dumbstruck at the wheel. "Do you mean fishing? Seriously, what is it? I don't get it…" This caused the three to laugh even harder.

"John, you know what bating is. You are the _master_ at it." Trish said through giggles.

"I'm the master at what? Tell me what it is! Maria!" John turned to her, "Tell me what she means!"

"Oh come on, John. Sound it out." Maria laughed.

"What the hell is bating?"

"Johnny's the Masturbator!" Trish yelled.

"I'm the Master bater?" John questioned.

"Maria told us what you were up to before." Dave informed him.

"What do you mean?"

"Maria walked in on you jerking it this morning."

John's face turned red in response as they turned into the airport. Trish, Dave, and Maria's laughs were amplified as they pulled into the parking spot.

_A plane ride and many more masturbating jokes later._

"Maybe we can meet up with you guys before the holiday's over." Maria suggested.

"Sure that'll be fun." Trish agreed before hugging her two friends and joining Dave in the car. They waved until Dave and Trish disappeared from sight.

_RING RING RING._ Maria's phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse to see Shawn's name on the screen.

"Hey." Maria greeted her boyfriend.

"Hey, babe." Shawn returned and smacked John as he mocked Shawn.

"What's up?"

"Just wondering if you were gonna visit before Thanksgiving." Shawn stated.

"Shawn I told you I'm going to John's house for Thanksgiving because we're telling his parents about the baby."

"Yeah I know. I was just hoping you'd change your mind." Maria could hear his grimace over the phone.

"I know, babe, I'm sorry."

"It's our first holiday together as a couple. I wanted to spend it with you."

"I know but you knew how complicated this relationship was when you got into it—"

"No, I didn't." Shawn mumbled.

"—You signed up for it. I need to do what's best for my baby."

"…"

"Hello?"

"I thought I was you baby." He said quietly.

"You are. It's… you know what I meant."

"Yeah I know."

Maria decided to avoid the awkwardness of their situation and get out of the conversation.

"Well I better get going. I'll talk to you soon, babe." Maria brought her phone down from her ear to press the end button.

"Bye. I love you." Shawn's reply went unheard by Maria.

.:.

"It's been forever since I've been here." John stated as he plopped down on Maria's couch and propped his feet up on her glass coffee table.

"And you still can't remember to take your shoes off at the door." Maria nagged him jokingly. Before joining him on the couch. "Wow, I'm tired."

"Well let's get your things packed up so we can get to my house and take a nap and get settled before we leave for Massachusetts tomorrow." John suggested as he placed an arm around Maria's shoulders and kissed her temple lightly. Maria rested her head on his shoulder and savored the moment.

"We really should get moving." Maria agreed but didn't budge, yet made herself more comfortable.

"Come on," John said getting to his feet. "I'll help you. I wanna get home, too."

Maria agreed and John took her by the hand and helped her up. Maria's things for their vacation were packed in about an hour and they were on the road again to John's house, which was only twenty minutes away.

"It's been forever since I've been here." Maria mimicked John's previous actions.

John leaned on the archway connecting his kitchen to the TV room and watched Maria stretch out on his comfortable brown leather couch. He was flooded with memories of the last time Maria was at his house. It was about right before they broke up. He had taken her to a restaurant to celebrate their three and a half year anniversary. Maria didn't really want to celebrate that landmark. She had said, "We should save it so we can have a bigger celebration on number four." But he insisted.

When he picked her up, she was wearing a skin tight black off the shoulder dress with leopard peep-toe stilettos and a leopard clutch. Her hair was curled and parted to the side with a bit of it pulled back with a big black sparkly dragonfly clip. John, in his best suit, took her out to dinner at the restaurant he took her on their first date and then took her dancing at their favorite club. John brought her back to his house and after some after-party cocktails she led him upstairs and they made love like never before. The stayed in bed with a few repeat performances until dinnertime the next day.

They ordered a pizza. Just as the pizza guy arrived they were getting ready for another round. Maria insisted they get the door. She wrapped his bed sheet around herself and got to the door and John followed with the money. Maria opened the door with John holding up the off-white sheet covering her and the entire time Maria was interacting with the pizza delivery boy, whose mouth was agape, John was pulling her closer and placing light kisses on her neck and grabbing her under the sheet. Maria couldn't stifle her whimpers through the conversation. She told the boy to keep the change the shut the door and threw the pizza on the ground and she jumped on John and they finished what they had started. Afterwards they enjoyed the pizza and decided to check their phones.

John was taken out of the oasis that they had created when he had received quite a few texts from Mickie. One of them being a picture of her in some scandalous lingerie and another of her pleasuring herself while moaning John's name and, lastly, a text saying 'r u busy?' John was entranced by these things and told Maria he needed to get some sleep and that he'd text her later. Maria was confused and hurt, he could tell, by the abruptness of the end to their perfect date, but she left nonetheless. John the changed the sheets and cleaned up before inviting Mickie over, who he kicked out once they were done.

John was now frowning. He ruined a perfect time with Maria for a quick fuck with Mickie. If his memory served him correctly, the sex with Mickie wasn't nearly as good as it was the Maria. Now it's been months since he's had sex at all.

Maria was now watching Project Runway on his flat screen mounted on the opposite wall. Unexpectedly, Maria turned her head to John and told him, "Johnny, I wanna know the gender of our baby." John's eyes just about popped out of his head. He readjusted and calmed before he coolly replied, "Alright but I still wanna be surprised."

Maria grinned at him, "Ok." Her gaze returned to one of her favorite shows.

"I better get packing John stated as he headed for the stairs. Maria got up and followed him at a run and she darted past him on the stairs.

"I win!" she stated as she looked down at a confounded John from the top of the staircase with a triumphant grin. She ran again into his bedroom, John close on her heels, and she leaped on to his king size bed. John landed next to her and he went to grab her leg and he got her shoulders down to the bed before yelling, "1…2…3…! And the winner and WWE Champion, JOHN CENA! And the crowed goes wild." He made the noise of a rowdy crowd before he looked down and saw Maria just staring at him with awe. John released her leg and positioned himself so he was more comfortably on her. Their eyes were locked. Her lips twitched in anticipation.

They both looked down at Maria's stomach. Their baby had kicked again. They smiled and John slid off Maria leaving her cold with the absence of his warmth as evident as the green in her eyes.

"Want some help?" Maria offered and she sat up.

"Nope. I just need to switch a few things. Shouldn't take too long."

"Ok." Maria said as she grabbed a pillow and decided to call Shawn.

"Oh and Maria?" John poked his head out of the closet and Maria looked up from her phone with her thumb over the send button.

"Yeah, Johnny?"

"You look beautiful today." John told her with a panty-wetting smile and a wink before he disappeared again. Maria beamed and closed her phone.

.:.

Maria and John arrived in West Newbury, Massachusetts the next day at noon. John pulled the rented Accord up the gravel driveway and turned to Maria when they were parked.

"Ready he said to her?"  
Maria took a shaky breath before replying with a small smile, "No."

"Come on. We'll do this together." John reassured her, grabbing her hand.

"I'm scared." She told him.

"I am too, Ria. But it'll be better once we tell them."

"Promise?"  
"Pinky promise." John said with a grin, holding out his right pinky. Maria's pinky finger locked with his and he kissed her on the cheek before they set out to greet John's family.


End file.
